Ekvtime Takaishvili House Museum: Georgian Historian’s Life and Legacy

Ekvtime Takaishvili – the man who saved Georgian cultural heritage

Ekvtime Takaishvili was a historian, archaeologist, co-founder of the first university in the Caucasus region, and the author of numerous publications on archaeological expeditions throughout Georgia.

To protect cultural heritage from invaders, Ekvtime Takaishvili was tasked with preparing the most valuable exhibits from Georgian museums for evacuation and removal from the country.

He took this treasure by ship to Marseille and deposited it in a bank.

The Georgian émigrés could not afford to pay the bank's maintenance fees, so in 1934, a court ruled that the treasure should become the property of France and be transported to Paris. After this, Ekvtime spent years calling for the return of this treasure to Georgia.

In 1940, when the German army occupied France, they knew about the Georgian treasure and actively searched for it, but the French people hid it in the basement of the Palace of Versailles, and Ekvtime assisted them in this. He spent four nights in a cold basement, after which his health deteriorated.

In 1945, after lengthy negotiations and under Stalin's influence, Georgia's national treasure was returned. Ekvtime was 82 years old at the time. When the plane landed in Tbilisi, Ekvtime stayed away from the exit because his jacket and shoes were so torn that he was embarrassed for the people.

At that time, Georgia was still under a very strict Russian regime, so Ekvtime was under house arrest for eight years until his death. Only a few were able to see him. He died alone in a one-room apartment at the age of 90.

In 2002, he was canonized by the Georgian Orthodox Church.

In 2013, he was awarded the title and order of National Hero of Georgia.

Text by Anano Chikhradze