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Associate Professor of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Giorgi Lobzhanidze has received one of Iran’s top international awards - the Shahriar International Scientific and Cultural Medal.
The Shahriar Medal is awarded by the scientific council of the University of Tabriz to honor regional and world researchers for their contributions to developing Iranian studies. Giorgi Lobzhanidze was picked for the prize for his Georgian translation of two volumes of Persian poet Jalal ad-Din Mohammad Rumi. Considering the COVID-19 pandemic, the awards ceremony was held online on November 17. Six more scholars, also picked for the same prize, attended the ceremony. Speaking at the event, Giorgi Lobzhanidze thanked the Iranian Embassy to Georgia for nominating him, as well as the Iranian Government and the University of Tabriz for awarding him. He stressed the importance of such awards and cooperation in boosting scientific ties between regional countries.
“Several very dignified persons have been awarded the Shahriar Medal before me and I am very glad to join their ranks. Generally, I think that this medal does not belong only to me, but it belongs to the entire Iranian studies in Georgia, especially to my teachers, some of whom are not alive and who dedicated their entire life to the Iranian studies. Persian language and literature has been taught at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, the oldest university in the Caucasus, since the day of its foundation in 1918. Now, this tradition continues at the Department of Iranian Studies. Let me thank the University of Tabriz, it is important that I received this medal for Jalal ad-Din Rumi’s Masnavi-ye Manavi,” Giorgi Lobzhanidze said.
The medal awarded to the TSU Associate Professor bears the name of a notable Iranian Azerbaijani poet Shahriar, born in Tabriz. The awards ceremony was held for the sixth consecutive year. Before Lobzhanidze, the same medal has been awarded to Georgian Iranologists: Tea Shurgaia, head of the TSU Department of Iranian Studies, Prof. Nomadi Bartaia and Dr. Maia Sakhokia.