A scientific conference dedicated to the 170th anniversary of the birth of prominent teacher and scholar Tedo Jordania was held at the National Academy of Sciences of Georgia by the President of Georgian Historians and Ekvtime Takaishvili, which was opened by the President of the Academy, academician Roin Metreveli.
Theodore David’s son Jordan (1853-1916) is essential among Georgian historians of the second half of the XIX century. Tedo Jordania, during his work as the supervisor of the Theological School of Tbilisi in 1882, created a project that opened the Georgian Language Department in all theological schools.
This fact was of great importance at that time because the Russian language was taught in schools, and native language and literature were considered foreign disciplines. In return, the project author lost his position and was transferred to Tbilisi Seminary as a teacher.
As a result of Tedo Jordan’s efforts, the Department of Georgian Language and Georgian Church History was established in the seminary in 1885, and he was appointed head of it himself. Achieving this was quite a difficult and important event because the meeting of the Tbilisi Governorate intervened in front of the government to obtain the same rights in the schools of the ministry system, but to no avail. Tedo Jordania wrote the grammar of the Georgian language, based on which he could teach the Georgian language in a complete course in the seminar and expand the program.
In 1894, he was appointed a member of the commission that was supposed to develop the curriculum for church-parish schools. He made a plan for 12 lessons in the self-taught department of the Georgian language and six lessons in the Russian language. Synod approved the plan with his determination.
Tedo Jordania, with his achievements, contributed to the revival of the national liberation movement. Ilia Chavchavadze highly appreciated his dedicated work. He actively cooperated in “Iveria” and published letters on historical topics under the pseudonym of “Egri.” Studying the country’s history is the best way to instill a new generation with a patriotic spirit.
Tedo Jordania considered the primary goal of his scientific achievement to create a Georgian source science base. He collected old manuscripts, Sigel Gujjri, and published “Chronicles,” a board book for Georgians. He was also interested in church history studies. He was the first to study monographically the lives of Anton Katalikos and Joseph Samaebel, their achievements and others.
Exploring Tedo Giordania’s legacy can lead to the conclusion that, as a historian, he does not only describe and tell history but also makes factual findings about events, including searching for causal connections, analyzing the sources at hand, verifying facts, and reconstructing political decisions at the time.
This puts him in the ranks of the new generation of 19th-century historians who contributed to the advancement and development of history as a science.
