TARIEL PUTKARADZE’S REFLECTIONS ON THE INSTITUTE OF DIALECTOLOGY (ACCORDING TO HIS DIARY)

Abstract

The notes from Professor Tariel Putkaradze›s diary related to the early years of the Institute of Dialectology are analyzed in the proposed paper. “Kutaisi Odyssey’… It seems like Kutaisi has become my destiny…”, first entry reads (15.11.1992). From his perspective, all chances result from «probable inevitability.» This was exactly the “probable inevitability” that, thirty years ago, Academician Magali Todua, the then-rector of Kutaisi University offered him a position at the Institute of Dialectology that he had founded, on the advice of Academician Ketevan Lomtatidze and Prof. Tedo Uturgaidze. This opportunity “was somewhat of a relief to him, as he had been unemployed for a year” due to the persecution and oppression against supporters of the legitimate government in Tbilisi. With approval from the academic council, M. Todua appointed T. Putkaradze as the Director of the Institute of Dialectology on November 11, 1992. The scholar claimed that he had unexpectedly discovered himself at the center of science and leading a completely different life—far from politics!” “Following a great deal of hardship and oppression, it was a start toward living life fully”, though not without the great pain of being apart from his own family, which is evident throughout the entire diary. As someone with a warrior spirit, he then focused on the positive aspects of being alone. Launching the Institute of Dialectology seemed like a worthwhile endeavor to him. He actually stated that he was meant to undertake and follow through with it. Tariel Putkaradze devoted a significant portion of his life and career to the Institute of Dialectology. Thirty years ago, the institute, science in general, and the comparatively less hostile environment in Kutaisi protected him from political persecution. Despite the ‹distance in time and space,› his notes, given their significance, invite us to reflect on the initial steps of the Institute of Dialectology and, fundamentally, on the meaning of life and one›s civic duty.