A panel session titled “Ilia Chavchavadze - The Past and Modernity” will be held at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University on December 26, at 14:00, on the initiative of Academia Europaea Tbilisi Knowledge Hub.

Moderator: Akaki Chikobava, Tbilisi State University

Speakers: Dimitri Shvelidze, Mariam Chkhartishvili, Irakli Chkhaidze.

Abstract: Ilia Chavchavadze, a Georgian public figure, journalist, publisher, politician and writer who played an important role in the establishment of civil society in Georgia of the 19th century and spearheaded the national-liberation movement of Georgia. He was the leader of contemporary youth intellectual movement named “Tergdaleulebi” who spread modern and European liberal ideals in Georgia. It is noteworthy that it was just Ilia Chavchavadze’s works where the narrative of Europeanness and Georgia’s European future first appeared. His letters dedicated to foreign affairs brought the Georgian society closer to the West and, generally, to the processes ongoing in the world.