# Polikarpe Jajanidze

Polikarpe Jajanidze (Georgian: პოლიკარპე ჯაჯანიძე; 28 August 1910 – 1 September 1977) was a Georgian linguist and philologist, born in the village of Inashauri, Vani, Georgia. He held the titles of Doctor of Philological Sciences and Professor.

## Biography

In 1930, Jajanidze graduated with honors from the Kutaisi Industrial Economic Technical School. He proceeded to work as the deputy director of Anaria Soviet household management.
He began his teaching career in 1932, teaching Georgian language and literature at the School of Youth in Geguti until 1933.
In 1937, he graduated with honors from the Faculty of Georgian Language and Literature at the Kutaisi State Pedagogical Institute. By 1940, he had finished postgraduate studies at the same institute.
He was a lecturer of the Georgian language at the Sokhumi State Pedagogical Institute from 1939 to 1941. During his career at the Sokhumi State Pedagogical Institute he was called on military duty to participate in World War II and fought for 4 years heroically, losing all his siblings in the war. While being on military duty in the war, he rose from soldier to major and eventually received five commendations from the Commander-in-Chief upon his return.
After he came back from the war, from 1946 he became lecturer of the Georgian language at the Kutaisi State Pedagogical Institute. After a year, he served as the Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages at the Kutaisi Pedagogical Institute. From 1952-1955, he served as Deputy Director of the Kutaisi Pedagogical Institute.
In 1953, he defended his dissertation and obtained the academic degree of candidate of Philological Sciences and in 1954, he was awarded the title of Associate Professor.
Since 1969 he had been the dean of the Department of Georgian Language at the Kutaisi Pedagogical Institute.
In 1971, he became a Doctor of Philological Sciences and was granted the title of Professor.
He worked alongside other linguists and philologists, such as Akaki Shanidze and etc.
Polikarpe Jajanidze has authored about 50 scientific works and he mainly researched the old Georgian language. The most notable work of his is the monograph "The Formation of First-Series Verb Forms Based on an Old Manuscript of the New Testament Books", due to the discovery of a new list of the David Gareji Monastery’s teachings ("სწავლანი") or golden source ("ოქროს წყარო") and etc. among others.
Polikarpe Jajanidze was interested in the science of dialectology and conducted notable studies on the characteristics of the Gurian and Ajarian dialects, based on which he prepared an extensive monograph titled "The Gurian Dialect in Relation to Ajarian" (Kutaisi, 1970). He also published a separate book "The Gurian Dialect", the first part of which includes texts and dictionary materials. His works can be considered a significant contribution to Georgian study of dialects.
Polikarpe participated in institutional and republican conferences. In the beginning of his career, he engaged in students' scientific work at the Kutaisi Pedagogical Institute and trained many young linguists in the field of linguistic science. He frequently served as an opponent for candidates defending their doctoral degrees.
Throughout the teaching years, he delivered lectures on general linguistics, the introduction to linguistics and the old Georgian language.
His main focus was on the professional development of teachers in secondary schools in Kutaisi and the surrounding regions. He systematically conducted methodological lectures and presentations on pressing issues in teaching the native language. He also proactively organized scientific-methodological training sessions, sometimes off-site.
This was due to his initiative that the faculty decided to create symphonic-lexical vocabulary for the compilation of the works of Akaki Tsereteli, a renowned Georgian poet and writer. He prepared for publication the index of words and grammatical forms (Symphony-Lexicon) of the first ever Georgian manuscript - the "Sinuri Mravaltavi" (864). Under his guidance, the faculty actively researched the toponymy of western Georgia.

### Death

Polikarpe is buried at Oghaskura Cemetery in Kutaisi. His grave features a sculpture of a book with his signature on it, symbolizing his deep passion and lifelong dedication to teaching, research and academia.

## References/Notes and references

* ↑ ""ქართული ენის კათედრის სხდომა"/"Meeting of the Georgian Language Department", Jajanidze on far left, Collection of Akaki Tsereteli State University, Organization - Soviet past research laboratory, PUBLIC ARCHIVE SOVLAB COLLECTION OF TSERETELI UNIVERSITY PHOTO 028 P POS S1 26-12-2012 V01". archive.ge (in Georgian). Retrieved 2025-03-05.
* ↑ "ჯაჯანიძე პოლიკარპე - NPLG Wiki Dictionaries". www.nplg.gov.ge. Retrieved 2025-03-05.
* ↑ Aroshidze, Paata (2024-12-01). "პოლიკარპე ჯაჯანიძე". კარგ ქართველთა საფლავები (in Georgian). Retrieved 2025-03-05.