Tbilisi State University, in collaboration with the Georgian Post and the United Postal Union, will undertake the preparation of an academic edition of Kita Chkhenkeli’s epistolary legacy. The edition will be dedicated to the 130th birth anniversary of Kita Chkhenkeli, a renowned Kartvelologist, scientist, translator, and lexicographer. The implementation of the project was marked by the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation by the Rector of TSU, Academician Jaba Samushia; the Director General of the Georgian Post, Levan Chikvaidze; and the Chairperson of the Board of the United Postal Union, Nutsa Suladze.

“With the support of the Georgian Post, we have prepared a series of publications of national significance, including the epistolary legacy of Ivane Javakhishvili; a trilingual book-album about the first student Medea Gambashidze. We appreciate this collaboration, and I am sure that this project will also be very successful,” said Rector Jaba Samushia.

“I am glad that the cooperation between the Georgian Post and TSU is so fruitful. The partnership with the university is very valuable for us; our employees, together with the representatives of the United Postal Union, are ready to get involved in this project,” said Levan Chikvaidze, Director General of the Georgian Post.

The heads of the Georgian Post and the United Postal Union also expressed their readiness to participate in the events commemorating the 150th anniversary of Ivane Javakhishvili next year. The initiative to issue a commemorative stamp dedicated to the 150th anniversary of Ivane Javakhishvili was spearheaded by Rector Samushia.

In 2018, the archives of Georgian emigrants: Kita Chkhenkeli and his brother Akaki Chkhenkeli were transferred to the Tbilisi State University Library. In connection with the anniversary of Kita Chkhenkeli, the university will publish his epistolary legacy preserved in this archive, including the letters addressed to famous scientists, politicians, public figures and writers, as well as interesting material for a broad audience of researchers and readers interested in the history of Georgian culture.

Kita Chkhenkeli’s contributions to the development of Georgian culture and science, as well as their popularization on an international scale, are particularly noteworthy. He published a translation of “Visramiani” in the Georgian printing house Amirani, which he founded in Switzerland. He also printed the fundamental work “Introduction to the Georgian Language,” which is still considered a classic textbook of Kartvelology in the German-speaking world. He established the Kartvelological Department at the University of Zurich. At the same institution, Chkhenkeli amassed a substantial corpus for the academic publication of “The Knight in the Panther's Skin” and the printing of the Georgian-German dictionary. The initial six books of the dictionary were published during the author’s lifetime. Kita Chkhenkeli passed away while working on the seventh volume. This work was published in 1974 and is widely regarded as a pivotal advancement in the field of Kartvelology.