Tedo Sakhokia
Tedo Sakhokia was a Georgian ethnographer, lexicologist, folklore scientist, translator, opinion journalist and educator, Correspondent Member of the Académie de Reims and Foreign Correspondent Member of the Society of Anthropology of Paris.
Biography
Tedo Sakhokia attended classes in Tbilisi Spiritual Seminary, from where he was expelled because of illegal activities. He attended universities in Paris, Geneva and Brussels. Tedo Sakhokia was a member of Liberty League. He was the leader of the Georgian Party, a political movement and co-edited the newspaper "Georgia" from 1903 to 1905.Tedo Sakhokia was arrested in 1905 for attempting to bring weapons into Georgia illegally. In 1908, he was deported to Siberia, through which he fled to Europe, settling in Belgium, France, and England until 1916. After returning to Georgia, he became more actively involved in scientific and social activities, particularly in the restoration of the Georgian Church's autocephaly.
Tedo Sakhokia was the first Georgian figure who received specialized ethnographic education. He wrote several well-known works, including "Travelings," "Ethnographic Writings, "How We Grew Up in the Old Time" and "Georgian Imaginative Words and Sayings". His ethnographic papers have appeared in Georgian, English, Russian, Italian, and French translations.
Tedo Sakhokia worked closely with the Society for the Spreading of Literacy among Georgians. He was a regular contributor to Georgian and foreign magazines and newspapers such as Tsnobis Furtseli, Moambe, Droeba, Sakhalkho Gazeti, Кавказ, etc.
Tedo Sakhokia was a translator as well. He translated Giovanni Boccaccio's "The Decameron" and Giuseppe Garibaldi's "Clelia" from Italian, and works by Voltaire, Guy de Maupassant, Emile Zola, Alphonse Daudet, François Coppée, Henri Barbusse, and Octave Mirbeau from French, Ivan Vazov's "Under the Yoke" from Bulgarian and Cornelius Borozdin's “Samegrelo” and “Serfdom in Samegrelo“ from Russian.
Ancestry
According to Tedo Sakhokia, his distant ancestor was Gamkrelidze from Racha, who relocated to Lechkhumi as a result of the murder. Because of Mouravi Chikovani's murder, his sons were forced to flee to Samegrelo. Two brothers settled in Shkhepi and adopted the surname Sakhokia, while two others took the surname Gakhokia.Tedo Sakhokia's great-grandfather was a priest of nobleman Dadiani. Sakhokias were in charge of picking common nettles for lord and fasters in the palace during Great Lent, hence why they were dubbed "nettler" Sakhokias. Great-grandfather was a goldsmith and his family was considered as a prosperous family. Timote, Tedo Sakhokia's father, was from Shkhepi and worked as a priest at St. George's Church in Kheta. Mother Elizabeth was daughter of the same church's priest, David Kukava.
Early life and education
Childhood
Tedo Sakhokia was born on 15 March 1868 in Kheta in Zugdidi Uezd. His family was regarded as wealthy and esteemed family. According to mingrelian tradition of that time, Irine Lataria and Utotia Iosava took Tedo to a neighbouring village and raised him till he was three years old.In 1872 Tedo Sakhokia returned to Kheta, but his family soon relocated to Sukhumi. Tedo Sakhokia's mother died in 1874 and Timote Sakhokia was left to raise four daughters and two sons alone.
Tedo Sakhokia was five years old when he learned to read and write in Russian and enrolled in "Горская школа" but as the Russo-Ottoman war approached, Timothy Sakhokia relocated his family to Kheta, bringing church items with him.
Spiritual seminary
Admission to Martvili Spiritual School required fluency in Georgian literacy. That's why Timote Sakhokia sent his son to priest Shio Iosava, with whom Tedo lived for nearly a year but still couldn't learn to read or write in Georgian. Tedo Sakhokia was admitted to the Martvili Spiritual School in 1877, but due to his lack of Georgian literacy, he was placed in the first preparatory class. Tedo Sakhokia lived in Ivane Odisharia's home, where Besarion and Giorgi Khelaia also resided. Tedo was taught to read and write in Georgian by Besarion. While Tedo Sakhokia was in school, Vasil Barnov also taught him.Tedo Sakhokia graduated from Martvili Spiritual School in 1884. Due to his age, he was unable to enroll in the second class at Kutaisi Classical Gymnasium. On the other hand, he was admitted to the first class of the Tbilisi Spiritual Seminary in the same year without exams because he had graduated from the first degree of the Spiritual School.
While studying at the Tbilisi Spiritual Seminary, he befriended Shio Dedabrishvili and Ioseb Laghiashvili with whom he shared Socialist beliefs. In his second year, Tedo Sakhokia also met Alexander Jabadari and Zakaria Chichinadze, from whom he obtained "forbidden books." During this time, Tedo Sakhokia shared a home with Mikhail Tskhakaya. Tedo Sakhokia was expelled from the seminary on 21 February 1886, based on his own statement about engaging in illegal student activities.
High education
After being expelled from the Tbilisi Spiritual Seminary, Tedo Sakhokia returned to Sukhumi. Agronomy was a relatively common occupation at the time and Timote Sakhokia sent his son to study agriculture in another country on the suggestion of Antim Jugheli. In the spring of 1886, Tedo Sakhokia arrived in Geneva, Switzerland, where he met Ivan Machvariani, a well-known writer and translator. On his suggestion, Tedo Sakhokia stayed in Geneva, studied French, and enrolled at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of University of Geneva. He established close ties with Georgian students there while pursuing his degree.Tedo Sakhokia was compelled to return to Georgia after his father died in 1887. After that, he enrolled at the Department of History of the Sorbonne University in Paris, which offered free tuition. Despite this, Tedo Sakhokia did not finish the course and returned to Georgia in 1889.
Tedo Sakhokia arrived in Tiflis in 1900 and agreed to work '"Tsnobis Furtseli" and "Moambe" from abroad. He mailed Feuilletons four times a month on average from abroad. Kirion II of Georgia, the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, has offered to help him financially throughout his stay abroad.
Tedo Sakhokia traveled to Paris in 1900, where he attended a World's fair. Hi was the Georgian delegation's correspondent. He subsequently went to the High School of Anthropology in Paris, where he spent four years. In addition to his studies, he attended De Mortilie seminars, weekly scientific expeditions, and scientific discussions. Tedo Sakhokia's "Georgian Proverbs," which included Shota Rustaveli's aphorisms, was published in French during this time period. He was elected to the Académie de Reims as a Correspondent Member in 1902. Also, he was elected as a Foreign Correspondent Member of the Society of Anthropology of Paris in 1904.
1890-1900
Tedo Sakhokia worked in a variety of jobs between 1890 and 1894 to support himself: Worked as a forester, as a foreign correspondent in the industry of Nikoloz Ghoghoberidze, as a member of "Georgian Cooperation of Book Publishers". In 1894 he started working in "Phylloxerian Group". During this time, Tedo Sakhokia was primarily focused on researching the situation in western Georgian communities. In the fight against grape disease, he sought to enhance the level of awareness among peasants.From 1895 to 1897 Tedo Sakhokia lived in Tbilisi and engaged in publishing activities of the "Georgian Cooperation of Book Publishers". During this time, he released the following books: "აკაკის ნაკვესები", "Russian-Georgian Dictionary" and translation of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Wild Swans.
Political life
Liberty League of Georgia
In 1892 Liberty League was founded in Kutaisi by Georgian students from Russian and European universities. Most of its founders were from Universities of Warsaw, Kiev, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kharkiv and Odessa. Tedo Sakhokia became a member of the organization in 1892. Tedo Sakhokia secretly corresponded with Shio Aragvispireli, Vakhtang Ghambashidze, and others to popularize the group and recruit new members.The Russian government's gendarmerie has intercepted correspondence between members of the organization. Tedo Sakhokia was arrested on September 20, 1894, accusation for communicating with Shio Dedabrishvili and participating with the "Liberty League of Georgia" and was sent to Kutaisi's prison the following day. Three months later, he was freed from prison, however, he was still being watched by the police and gendarmerie.
Georgian Party
Tedo Sakhokia relocated to Sukhumi in 1898. He was the leader of a political movement, known as the "Georgian Party", in Abkhazia, and with Antim Jugheli, Ivane Gegia, Grigol Kandelaki and others, was an outspoken opponent of Russia's russification policy. With Tedo Sakhokia fought Spiridon Norakidze, Ivane Burchuladze, Ivane Gegia, and Parna Davitaia fought. "Georgian Party" members were clergy: Protoiereus David Matchavariani; priests: Avksenty Sakhokia and Ivane Chkhenkeli, and future Catholicos-Patriarchs of All Georgia: St. Kyrion II, Leonid of Georgia and Ambrosius of Georgia.Tedo Sakhokia and his associates generally corresponded with one another and Tedo Sakhokia was in charge of coordinating this correspondence. The activities of the "Georgian Party" and Tedo Sakhokia were soon investigated by authorities of the Russian Empire. The indictment took them four years to write but with the support of his friends, Tedo Sakhokia was able to flee to Europe. After this, "Georgian Party's" operations slowed considerably.
Newspaper "Georgia"
Tedo Sakhokia traveled to Italy in the summer of 1901. In Rome he assisted Mikhail Tamarashvili in preparing his manuscripts for publishing. Then he went to Tuscany for two months. Tedo Sakhokia became a close friend with Archil Jorjadze after returning to France, and he assisted him with remembering the Georgian language.In 1902, it was determined to be printed the illegal newspaper "Georgia" in Paris. The inaugural edition along with the French counterpart was released the following year. Tedo Sakhokia was a co-editor of the newspaper with Archil Jorjadze and Giorgi Laskhishvili and was involved in the unlawful distribution of it in Georgia. Tedo Sakhokia was sentenced to five years in prison and deported to Siberia by the Emperor's administration, but he assisted himself by emigration to Novorossiysk, where he secured a foreign passport, and then returning to Paris.
After temporarily returning from France Tedo Sakhokia and other members of the Georgian Socialist-Federalist Revolutionary Party had meeting with Ilia Chavchavadze. They begged him to support in the newspaper and other financial concerns, but the meeting failed.