Tamaz (Thomas) Valerianis dze Gamkrelidze (

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

: თამაზ ვალერიანის ძე გამყრელიძე, 23 October 1929 – 10 February 2021) was a

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

, orientalist public benefactor and

Hittitologist Hittitology is the study of the Hittites, an ancient Anatolian people that established an empire around Hattusa in the 2nd millennium BCE. It combines aspects of the archaeology, history, philology, and art history of the Hittite civilisation. ...

Academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

(since 1974) and President (2005–2013) of the

Georgian Academy of Sciences The Georgian National Academy of Sciences (GNAS) ( ka, საქართველოს მეცნიერებათა ეროვნული აკადემია, tr) is a main learned society of the Georgia. It was named Georgian S ...

(GAS), Doctor of Sciences (1963), Professor (1964).

Biography

Gamkrelidze was born in Kutaisi,

Georgian SSR The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц� ...

. His brother

Revaz Gamkrelidze Revaz Valerianovic Gamkrelidze ( ka, რევაზ ვალერის ძე გამყრელიძე, ISO 9984: ''Revaz Valeris je Gamqrelije''; born February 4, 1927) is a Georgian and Soviet mathematician known for his work in opt ...

is also an Academic, a famous mathematician. Tamaz Gamkrelidze graduated from the Faculty of Oriental Studies of the

Tbilisi State University Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University ( ka, ივანე ჯავახიშვილის სახელობის თბილისის სახელმწიფო უნივერსიტეტი ''Ivane Javaxishvi ...

(TSU) in 1952. Since 1964 Gamkrelidze was a professor of this university, and since 1966 the Head of the Chair of Structural and Applied Linguistics. In 1973–2006 he was a Director of the Tsereteli Institute of Oriental Studies (Tbilisi). He was the author of many outstanding works in the fields of

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...

linguistics Linguistics is the science, scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure ...

Ancient languages An ancient language is any language originating in times that may be referred to as ancient. There are no formal criteria for deeming a language ancient, but a traditional convention is to demarcate as "ancient" those languages that existed prior t ...

Theoretical linguistics Theoretical linguistics is a term in linguistics which, like the related term general linguistics, can be understood in different ways. Both can be taken as a reference to theory of language, or the branch of linguistics which inquires into the n ...

, Structural and Applied Linguistics and Kartvelology. He was a leading proponent of the

glottalic theory The glottalic theory is that Proto-Indo-European had ejective stops, , instead of the plain voiced ones, as hypothesized by the usual Proto-Indo-European phonological reconstructions. A forerunner of the theory was proposed by the Danish lingu ...

of Proto-Indo-European consonants. In the 1980s Gamkrelidze worked with Vyacheslav Ivanov on a new theory of Indo-European migrations, which was most recently advocated by them in Indo-European and Indo-Europeans (1995). In 1988–1995 he edited the premier linguistics journal of the Russian Academy of Science "Voprosy jazykoznanija". He was a Foreign Associate of the

United States National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

(2006), Foreign Honorary Member of the

American Academy of Arts & Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

, Corresponding Fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars spa ...

, Fellow of the European Society of Linguistics (in 1986-1988 President of this Society), Corresponding Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Academician of the

Russian Academy of Science The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...

, a Fellow of the

World Academy of Art and Science The World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS), founded in 1960, is an international non-governmental scientific organization and global network of more than 800 scientists, artists, and scholars in more than 90 countries. It serves as a forum for s ...

(2006),

Doctor honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad ho ...

of the Bonn University (

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

) and the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

(

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

), Honorary Member of the

Linguistic Society of America The Linguistic Society of America (LSA) is a learned society for the field of linguistics. Founded in New York City in 1924, the LSA works to promote the scientific study of language. The society publishes three scholarly journals: ''Language'', ...

, etc. He has received the Lenin Prize (1988), the Humboldt International Prize (1989) and the

Ivane Javakhishvili Ivane Alexandres dze Javakhishvili ( ka, ივანე ჯავახიშვილი; 23 April 1876 – 18 November 1940) was a Georgian historian and linguist whose voluminous works heavily influenced the modern scholarship of the history ...

Prize of the Georgian Academy of Sciences (1992). From 1992 to 2005 Gamkrelidze was a member of the Parliament of Georgia. In August 1991 Tamaz Gamkrelidze was appointed the Rector of the Tbilisi State University, however, he stayed on this post for a very short time.Tamaz Gamkrelidze
// Tbilisi State University: The University Rectors - tsu.ge Since 2000, he was an honorary citizen of

Tbilisi 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 p ...

. Gamkrelidze died on 10 February 2021, aged 91.

Selected bibliography

* “The Akkado-Hittite syllabary and the problem of the origin of the Hittite script”, ''Archiv Orientální'', vol. 29 (1960). * ''Anatolian languages and the problem of Indo-European migration to Asia Minor'', Studies in General and Oriental Linguistics. Tokyo, 1970 * with V. V. Ivanov, ''Indoevropjskij jazyk i indoevropejcy: Rekonstrukcija i istoriko-tipologieskij analiz prajazyka i protokultury''. Tiflis: Tiflis University Press 1984. xcvi + 1328 p. ** English translation: ''Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans: A reconstruction and historical analysis of a proto-language and a proto-culture''. 2 vols. Trans. J. Nichols. Berlin–New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1: 1994, 2: 1995. * with V. V. Ivanov, “The ancient Near East and the Indo-European question: Temporal and territorial characteristics of Proto-Indo-European based on linguistic and historico-cultural data”, ''Soviet Studies in History'' vol. 22, no. 1–2 (1983): 7–52. doi: 10.2753/RSH1061-19832201027 * with V. V. Ivanov, “The migrations of tribes speaking Indo-European dialects from their original homeland in the Near East to their historical habitations in Eurasia”, ''Soviet Studies in History'' vol. 22, no. 1–2 (1983): 53–95. doi: 10.2753/RSH1061-198322010253 * “Proto-Indo-European as a Stative-Active Typology”, in ''Indogermanica et Caucasica: Festschrift für Karl Horst Schmidt zum 65. Geburtstag'', eds. Roland Bielmeier & Reinhard Stempel. Berlin–NY: Mouton de Gruyter, 1994, pp. 25–34. * ''Alphabetic writing and the old Georgian script''. New York: Caravan Books, 1994. * Ivo Hajnal, ed. ''Thomas V. Gamkrelidze, Selected writings: Linguistic sign, typology and language reconstruction''. Innsbruck 2006.

References

External links

Home Page of Tamaz Gamkrelidze
(2015-07-05 not accessible)

Tbilisi State University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gamkrelidze, Tamaz 1929 births 2021 deaths Linguists from Georgia (country) Scientists from Georgia (country) Hittitologists Indo-Europeanists Linguists of Indo-European languages People from Kutaisi Full Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Full Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Kartvelian studies scholars Orientalists from Georgia (country) Members of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences Lenin Prize winners Rectors of Tbilisi State University Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Honoured Scientists of the Georgia (country)

Biography

Selected bibliography

See also

References

External links