Peter Kharischirashvili (in Georgian: პეტრე ხარისჭირაშვილი / ხარისჭარაშვილი, born in 1804 or 1805 in

Akhaltsikhe Akhaltsikhe ( ka, ახალციხე ), formerly known as Lomsia ( ka, ლომსია), is a small city in Georgia's southwestern region (''mkhare'') of Samtskhe–Javakheti. It is situated on both banks of a small river Potskhovi (a left ...

Tiflis Governorate The Tiflis Governorate was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire with its administrative center in Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi). In 1897, it constituted 44,607 sq. kilometres in area and had a population ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

– 7 October 1890 in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

) was a Georgian Catholic

hieromonk A hieromonk ( el, Ἱερομόναχος, Ieromonachos; ka, მღვდელმონაზონი, tr; Slavonic: ''Ieromonakh'', ro, Ieromonah), also called a priestmonk, is a monk who is also a priest in the Eastern Orthodox Church and ...

, theologian, scientist and founder of the

Servites of the Immaculate Conception There are a number of Roman Catholic religious orders or congregations with Immaculate Conception in their name. Several of them are discussed here. Order of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady (The Conceptionists) Founded in 1484 at Toledo ...

Biography

Early years

Peter Kharischirashvili was born in 1804 or 1805 in Akhaltsikhe, according to most sources.ბლუაშვილი, უჩა (2008). მესხეთის სახელოვანი შვილები / Славные сыновья Месхети (in Georgian and Russian). საქართველოს პარლამენტის ეროვნული ბიბლიოთეკა. pp. 70-76, 175-180. . According to his tombstone, Kharischirashvili was born on May 2, 1818, which is the date accepted by Zakaria Chichinadze. Zakaria Chichinadze (1895). აბატი პეტრე ხარისჭირაშვილი . შარაძისა და ამხანაგობის სტამბა. Meanwhile, other sources give his birth date as April 20, 1818.Dalleggio, Eugene; Čičinaże, Zak'aria (2003). İstanbul Gürcüleri (in Turkish). Translated by Fahrettin Çiloğlu. Sinatle Yayınları. p. 44. . He studied at the parochial school and later went to study at the seminary in

Gyumri Gyumri ( hy, Գյումրի, ) is an urban municipal community and the second-largest city in Armenia, serving as the administrative center of Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. By the end of the 19th century, when the city w ...

, and finally to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

to study Superior Theology.

Priesthood and last years in Georgian lands

In 1842 he returned to Akhaltsikhe, there he was ordained, and was appointed assistant archimandrite to Pavle Shahqulianis. His return to

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

also meant an awareness and a determination to fight so that Catholic Georgians could worship God in their native

Byzantine Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, identifies the wide range of cultural, liturgical, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christian Church of Constantinople. The canonical hours ar ...

in the traditional

Old Georgian Old Georgian (ႤႬႠჂ ႵႠႰႧႭჃႪႨ, ''enay kartuli'') was a literary language of the Georgian monarchies attested from the 5th century. The language remains in use as the liturgical language of the Georgian Orthodox Church and ...

liturgical language A sacred language, holy language or liturgical language is any language that is cultivated and used primarily in church service or for other religious reasons by people who speak another, primary language in their daily lives. Concept A sac ...

. Kharischirashvili captivated his faithful thanks to his eloquent preaching. Despite obeying the law and offering only the ''

Badarak Divine Liturgy ( grc-gre, Θεία Λειτουργία, Theia Leitourgia) or Holy Liturgy is the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine Rite, developed from the Antiochene Rite of Christian liturgy which is that of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Co ...

'' in Classical Armenian, he preached in the

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

Georgian language Georgian (, , ) is the most widely-spoken Kartvelian language, and serves as the literary language or lingua franca for speakers of related languages. It is the official language of Georgia and the native or primary language of 87.6% of its p ...

. He worked hard to improve the situation of his people, exempting the

dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment ...

for women with few resources, and teaching people to read and write. His authority, however, aroused suspicions among the Armenians. The tensions reached their highest point when the Armenians announced the decision to build a seminary at Akhaltsikhe and Shahqulianis supported them. Kharischirashvili faced him and, finally was sent to Khizabavra, and from there to Vale. In the 1850s he was transferred to Khizabavra (today's Aspindza region).

Sacerdotal life abroad

In 1856 he moved to

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

, where he joined the

Armenian Catholic Church , native_name_lang = hy , image = St Elie - St Gregory Armenian Catholic Cathedral.jpg , imagewidth = 260px , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Saint Elias and Saint Gregory the Illumina ...

's Mekhitarist Congregation. He founded a

printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the ...

and published a number of significant historical and

theological Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

books in the Georgian language on San Lazzaro Island. Kharischirashvili also translated books from Armenian, which he had found in the library of the Mekhitarist community. Thanks to his work, Pope Pius IX allowed him to found a new Georgian

religious congregation A religious congregation is a type of religious institute in the Catholic Church. They are legally distinguished from religious orders – the other major type of religious institute – in that members take simple vows, whereas members of religio ...

on May 7, 1859 in Constantinople and also a

typikon A typikon (or ''typicon'', ''typica''; gr, , "that of the prescribed form"; Slavonic: Тvпико́нъ ''Typikonə'' or Оуставъ, ''ustavə'') is a liturgical book which contains instructions about the order of the Byzantine Rite of ...

there. Approval was given for the use of three rites,

Roman Rite The Roman Rite ( la, Ritus Romanus) is the primary liturgical rite of the Latin Church, the largest of the '' sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. It developed in the Latin language in the city of Rome and, while d ...

Armenian Rite The Armenian Rite () is an independent liturgy used by both the Armenian Apostolic and Armenian Catholic Churches. Liturgy The liturgy is patterned after the directives of Saint Gregory the Illuminator, first official head and patron sai ...

, and the

in the traditional

. Upon his arrival he founded the congregation of the

and began to celebrate the

Divine Liturgy Divine Liturgy ( grc-gre, Θεία Λειτουργία, Theia Leitourgia) or Holy Liturgy is the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine Rite, developed from the Antiochene Rite of Christian liturgy which is that of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of C ...

. A convent of nuns and a Catholic school were also founded. Each year the school had more than 100 students, many of whom were former Georgian serfs whose freedom was purchased by Fr. Kharischirashvili himself, and others who came from Georgia. His work also attracted Orthodox and Muslim Georgians. In 1861, Fr. Kharischirashvili founded the first

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

of the Georgian Greek Catholic Church in one of the most prestigious districts of Istanbul. As the Roman and Armenian Rites were the only Rites permitted by the

House of Romanov The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastasia Romanova, was married to t ...

for Catholics in

Georgia within the Russian Empire The country of Georgia became part of the Russian Empire in the 19th century. Throughout the early modern period, the Muslim Ottoman and Persian empires had fought over various fragmented Georgian kingdoms and principalities; by the 18th centu ...

, the

was offered mainly by the Servites at Constantinople, which was seen as the mother-house of their congregation. Fr. Kharischirashvili spoke eight languages, but he paid particular attention to education in Georgian. In addition to theological work, his congregation and school have also had a significant influence upon the

, its

grammar In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structure, structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clause (linguistics), clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraint ...

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 inclu ...

, and

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

. Their pupils were also taught excerpts from

Shota Rustaveli Shota Rustaveli ( ka, შოთა რუსთაველი, c. 1160 – after c. 1220), Mononymous person, mononymously known simply as Rustaveli, was a medieval Georgia (country), Georgian poet. He is considered to be the pre-eminent poet of ...

's ''

The Knight in the Panther's Skin ''The Knight in the Panther's Skin'' ( ka, ვეფხისტყაოსანი, tr literally "the one with the skin of a tiger") is a Georgian medieval epic poem, written in the 12th or 13th century by Georgia's national poet Shota Rus ...

''. The students were also taught

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

and French. The school's students included, among others, Fr.

Michel Tamarati Michel Tamarati, born Mikhail Tamarashvili ( ka, მიხეილ თამარაშვილი), (September 1858 – September 16, 1911) was a Georgian Roman Catholic priest and historian, known for his oft-cited French-language history of ...

and Mikheil Tarkhnishvili. In 1870, he founded a new Georgian

in Constantinople, and distributed many of the books free of charge to poor people. He paid special attention so that ever book was grammatically correct. Among the published works is the publication of poetry "ყვავილების კონა" (qvavilebis kona). The good march of the congregation caused that a new house and printer in Montauban (France) also had been opened in that decade. Only in 1877-81, this printout was printed and spread over 25 different books in Georgia. The Georgian language was used to protect and started to affect its grammar. While the

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

had lost its

autocephaly Autocephaly (; from el, αὐτοκεφαλία, meaning "property of being self-headed") is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern O ...

to the Tsarist civil servants of the

Most Holy Synod The Most Holy Governing Synod (russian: Святѣйшій Правительствующій Сѵнодъ, Святейший Правительствующий Синод) was the highest governing body of the Russian Orthodox Church betwee ...

and was forbidden to participate in the development of the Georgian language and it's literature, the Istanbul monastery continued the work of

Gregory of Khandzta Gregory of Khandzta ( Georgian: გრიგოლ ხანძთელი, ''Grigol Khandzteli''; 759 – 5 October 861) was a Georgian ecclesiastic figure and a founder and leader of numerous monastic communities in Tao-Klarjeti, a historica ...

and laid the foundation for the subsequent mass revival of Georgian language education by Prince

Ilia Chavchavadze Prince Ilia Chavchavadze ( ka, ილია ჭავჭავაძე; 8 November 1837 – 12 September 1907) was a Georgian public figure, journalist, publisher, writer and poet who spearheaded the revival of Georgian nationalism during th ...

Death and legacy

He died on October 7, 1890 in Istanbul (other sources say October 9). His headstone says: OSSA PETRI CARISCIARANTI / GEORGIA DOMO DOMO AKALCIK / SERVORUM / ANCILLARUMQUE VIRGINIS / AB IMMACULATO CONCEPTU / INSTITUTORIS / AC MODERATORIS GENERALIS PRIMI / PIISSIMA VITA CESSIT / VII ID OCT MDCCCXC / VIXIT ANNOS LXXII MONTHS V TWELFTH XXVI RI P ".Natsvlishvili, Natia (2015). "A struggle for identity: Georgian Catholics and their monastery in Istanbul". Caucasus Survey 3 (1). According to Father Christopher Zugger, nine Servite missionaries from Constantinople, headed by

Exarch An exarch (; from Ancient Greek ἔξαρχος ''exarchos'', meaning “leader”) was the holder of any of various historical offices, some of them being political or military and others being ecclesiastical. In the late Roman Empire and ea ...

Shio Batmanishvili Shio Batmanishvili (in Georgian: შიო ბათმანიშვილი, born in 1885 in Akhaltsikhe, Tiflis Governorate, Russian Empire – November 1, 1937, Sandarmokh, Karelia, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic) was a Ge ...

, came to the newly independent

Democratic Republic of Georgia The Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG; ka, საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა ') was the first modern establishment of a republic of Georgia, which existed from May 1918 to ...

to permanently establish Catholicism of the

there, and by 1929 their faithful had grown to 8,000. Tragically, their mission came to an end with the arrests of Exarch Shio and his priests by the

Soviet secret police The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

in 1928, their imprisonment in the

Gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the State Political Directorate, GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= ...

Solovki prison camp The Solovki special camp (later the Solovki special prison), was set up in 1923 on the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea as a remote and inaccessible place of detention, primarily intended for socialist opponents of Soviet Russia's new Bolshe ...

, and their subsequent murder by

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

Sandarmokh Sandarmokh (russian: Сандармох; krl, Sandarmoh) is a forest massif from Medvezhyegorsk in the Republic of Karelia where possibly thousands of victims of Stalin's Great Terror were executed. More than 58 nationalities were shot and bu ...

in 1937.

Bibliography

* ბლუაშვილი, უჩა (2008). მესხეთის სახელოვანი შვილები / Славные сыновья Месхети (in Georgian and Russian). საქართველოს პარლამენტის ეროვნული ბიბლიოთეკა. pp. 70-76, 175-180. . * ჭიჭინაძე, ზაქარია (1895). აბატი პეტრე ხარისჭირაშვილი. შარაძისა და ამხანაგობის სტამბა. * Dalleggio, Eugène; Čičinaże, Zak'aria (2003). İstanbul Gürcüleri (in Turkish). Translated by Fahrettin Çiloğlu. Sinatle Yayınları. pp. 43-50. . * კურტანიძე (Kurtanidze), ლ (L) (2002). "პეტრე ხარისჭირაშვილი და" სიბრძნე კაცობრივი " ". კავკასიის მაცნე / Caucasian Messenger (5). .

References

External links

*http://www.nplg.gov.ge/emigrants/en/00000018/ *http://www.nplg.gov.ge/bios/ka/00006038/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Kharischirashvili, Peter 1804 births 1890 deaths 19th-century poets from Georgia (country) Catholic priests from Georgia (country) Eastern Catholic monks Eastern Catholic poets Eastern Catholic writers Founders of Eastern Catholic religious communities Georgian Byzantine-Rite Catholics Male poets from Georgia (country) Mekhitarists Poets from Georgia (country) Translators from Armenian Translators to Georgian