Tbilisi State University turns 96
By Tatia Megeneishvili
Monday, February 10
On February 8, Tbilisi State University (TSU) celebrated its 96th anniversary. The ceremony was held in the first block of the university and was hosted by the head of TSU, Vladimir (Lado) Papava. President of Georgia, Giorgi Margvelashvili and the cabinet of ministers also attended the event.
During the ceremony the statues of TSU founders, Petre Melikishvili and Ivane Javakhishvili, were unveiled. Also, university students made a video clip, which featured the history of the university.
President Margvelashvili congratulated the students and professors on the anniversary. Calling TSU “the basis of science and the center of youth,” he said “it is the place for the mental and moral formation of people.”
“This university performed, performs and will play the key role in the process of establishing the identity of our country. I am connected to this university for many reasons including a relationship with science and other values this university holds,” Margvelashvili stated.
Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Gharibashvili, also congratulated the students and the university staff.
“96 years ago, a Georgian scholars established a European-style high school. Even in the beginning of the 20th century, this kind of education center was established where national and European values could be merged,” statement reads.
TSU was the first national university in the Caucasus region, which opened in 1918 and in 1989 it was named after its founder, Ivane Javakhishvili.
It paved the way to a European-type higher education in Georgia, based on Georgian educational traditions. The idea for the foundation of the university first emerged in the early 19th century amid intensification of the struggle for liberation from the Russian Empire.
The national university in the Caucasus was opened on January 26, 1918 - the day of commemoration of King David the Builder, which according to the new calendar is February 8.
