Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State Medical University

Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State Medical University

The first-ever national university in the Caucasus was opened in 1918 laying the foundation for a European-type higher school in Georgia, based on Georgian educational traditions.

The idea of foundation of the university first emerged as far back as the early 19th century amid intensification of the struggle for liberation from Russian empire.

A new generation led by great Georgian public figure Ilia Chavchavadze, with whom a new stage of spiritual revival in the history of our country is connected, appeared on the scene in the sixties of the 19th century. The struggle for establishing the university became especially vigorous during those years.

Real possibilities of establishing a higher school have opened up after the Nobiliary Manorial Estate Bank was founded in Tbilisi. It was the only bank throughout the Russian empire, which spent its incomes to promote the cultural-educational and economic interests of the nation.

From the beginning of the 20th century Ivane Javakhishvili, who underwent his studies in Petersburg and became its assistant professor, started to organize the foundation of the Georgian University. From the very first days of the February 1917 revolution, Ivane Javakhishvili, who was in Petersburg by then, started active preparations for the opening of a higher educational institution.

The first gathering of the founders of the University Society was held at the apartment of Petre Melikishvili in Tbilisi on May 12. The gathering was chaired by Ekvtime Takaishvili. It was just on that day, when the Georgian Free University Society was established, which later played a huge role in the foundation of the University.