Anton I ( ka, ანტონ I; – ), born as Teimuraz Bagrationi, was the Catholicos–Patriarch of the

Georgian Orthodox Church The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonly ...

in the period 1744–1755 and again in 1764–1788.

Biography

Being one of the sons of

Jesse of Kartli Jesse (, Iese), also known by his Muslim names Ali-Quli Khan and Mustafa Pasha, (1680 or 1681–1727), of the Mukhranian Bagrationi dynasty, was a king of Kartli (Georgia), acting actually as a Safavid Persian and later Ottoman viceroy (wali) ...

by his wife Princess Elene-Begum (a daughter of King

Erekle I of Kakheti Heraclius I ( ka, ერეკლე I, Erekle I; ) or Nazar Alī Khān (; ) (1642–1709), of the Bagrationi dynasty, was a Georgian monarch who ruled the kingdoms of Kakheti (1675–1676, 1703–1709) and Kartli (1688–1703) under the protecti ...

), Anton was born a royal

prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

(''

batonishvili ''Batonishvili'' ( ka, ბატონიშვილი) (literally "a child of batoni (lord or sovereign)" in Georgian) is a title for royal princes and princesses who descend from the kings of Georgia from the Bagrationi dynasty and is suffixe ...

''). He was raised together with his cousin prince Erekle, the future king Erekle II, in

Telavi Telavi ( ka, თელავი ) is the main city and administrative center of Georgia's eastern province of Kakheti. Its population consists of some 19,629 inhabitants (as of the year 2014). The city is located on the foothills of the Tsiv-Gombo ...

Kakheti Kakheti ( ka, კახეთი ''K’akheti''; ) is a region (mkhare) formed in the 1990s in eastern Georgia from the historical province of Kakheti and the small, mountainous province of Tusheti. Telavi is its capital. The region comprises eigh ...

. There, he studied in order to become priest, as well as learning the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, "

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

", and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

languages. At age 15, Anton became engaged to the daughter of the influential politician

Givi Amilakhvari Givi Amilakhvari ( ka, გივი ამილახვარი) (1689–1754) was a Georgia (country), Georgian nobleman (''tavadi'') with a prominent role in the politics of eastern Georgia in the first half of the 18th century. He waged a le ...

, however, his bride was taken away by

Nader Shah Nader Shah Afshar ( fa, نادر شاه افشار; also known as ''Nader Qoli Beyg'' or ''Tahmāsp Qoli Khan'' ) (August 1688 – 19 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian h ...

when the latter took

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...

(Tbilisi) in 1735. According to Prof.

Alexander Mikaberidze Alexander Mikaberidze ( ka, ალექსანდრე მიქაბერიძე; born 27 January 1978) is a Georgian lawyer, author and historian who specializes in Napoleonic studies. He is a full professor of history and social scien ...

, therefore, the reconquest of Georgia over the Ottomans by Nader Shah in 1735 through the Ottoman-Persian War of 1730-1735 had a profound effect on Anton, for he left the court and became a monk at the

Gelati Monastery Gelati ( ka, გელათის მონასტერი) is a medieval monastic complex near Kutaisi in the Imereti region of western Georgia. One of the first monasteries in Georgia, it was founded in 1106 by King David IV of Georgia as a ...

in 1738. Five years later, he moved to the

Gareja Monastery David Gareja ( ka, დავითგარეჯის სამონასტრო კომპლექსი) is a rock-hewn Georgian Orthodox monastery complex located in the Kakheti region of Eastern Georgia, on the half-desert slopes o ...

in Kakheti, and was elected catholicos-patriarch of the Orthodox Church in 1744. In a row of important political events that occurred in 1744, this event coincided with the

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

king Nader Shah granting the kingship of

Kartli Kartli ( ka, ქართლი ) is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari (Kura), on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial role ...

and Kakheti to Anton's uncle Teimuraz II and his cousin Erekle II, respectively. Anton established close relations with the Catholic missions active in Georgia and worked to improve contacts with Western Europe; regarding the former, he received criticism from the conservative clergy, who accused him of corrupting the Georgian Orthodox faith and trying to introduce Catholicism in Georgia. When Teimuraz II nullified the Catholic presence by moving them from Georgia, Anton's opponents took their chance. The ecclesiastical council led by Anton's opponent Zacharias A. Gabashvili, had Anton dismissed from his position on 17 December 1755, and he was succeeded by Catholicos-Patriarch Ioseb Jandieri. After his dismissal, which basically meant

banishment Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

, as well as 18 months of imprisonment, he moved to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, where he reportedly succeeded in getting himself cleansed from these charges at the Holy Synod of the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

on 16 March 1757, and was appointed Archbishop of Vladimir on 23 November 1757 by the decree of

Catherine II , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...

. Upon Erekle II's invitation, in 1762, Anton returned to the newly established

Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti The Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti ( ka, ქართლ-კახეთის სამეფო, tr) (1762–1801 ) was created in 1762 by the unification of two eastern Georgian kingdoms of Kartli and Kakheti. From the early 16th century, accor ...

. In the subsequent church council, now back in his homeland, Anton I defeated the conservatives and was reelected to the position catholicos-patriarch in 1764, thus starting his 2nd term. He was involved in the political life of his cousin, and renewed his efforts to bring the Georgian principalities closer to Europe. In the years of 1772-1782 (he was sent in 1772 by Erekle II himself, Anton took part in the negotiations which led up to the

Treaty of Georgievsk The Treaty of Georgievsk (russian: Георгиевский трактат, Georgievskiy traktat; ka, გეორგიევსკის ტრაქტატი, tr) was a bilateral treaty concluded between the Russian Empire and the east Ge ...

of 1783. Anton I died on 12 March 1788 and was buried in the

Svetitskhoveli Cathedral The Svetitskhoveli Cathedral ( ka, სვეტიცხოვლის საკათედრო ტაძარი, ''svet'icxovlis sak'atedro t'adzari''; literally the Cathedral of the Living Pillar) is an Orthodox Christian cathedral located ...

Mtskheta Mtskheta ( ka, მცხეთა, tr ) is a city in Mtskheta-Mtianeti province of Georgia. It is one of the oldest cities in Georgia as well as one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the World. Itis located approximately north of T ...

, in front of the king's gate.

Socio-cultural efforts

Anton was a generous supporter of the Georgian arts and

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

, and supervised the establishment of a number of schools, which included the seminaries of Tbilisi and

in 1755 and 1782 respectively. He personally directed the drafting of the curricula in these schools, wrote the textbook in 1753, and translated European treatises on

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

, which he taught in seminaries. As further stated by Prof. Mikaberidze, he was instrumental in reorganizing the new ecclesiastial calendar, wrote original hymns and canons, and translated numerous Slavic Orthodox works into Georgian. In 1769, Anton completed one of his greatest works named ''Martirika'' and began his long poetical study of the cultural history of Georgia, titled with the name ''Tsakobilstikvaoba''. Responsible for directing the educational system in Kartli-Kakheti for a quarter of a century, as stated by Prof. Mikaberidze, under his guidance a new generation of Georgian artists, scientists, and writers were produced, amongst whom Ambrosi Nekreseli, Gaioz Rektori, Philip Qaitmazashvili, amongst others. Thanks to his efforts, he left a deep imprint on the 18th-century sciences in Georgia, specifically on philosophy and literature.

References

Bibliography

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Biography

Socio-cultural efforts

References

Bibliography

Further reading