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Giorgi Nikoladze

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Giorgi Nikoladze
Photo of Nikoladze wearing robes
Nikoladze in 1926
Born(1888-08-11)11 August 1888
Didi Djikhaishi [Wikidata], Georgia, Russian Empire
Died22 September 1931(1931-09-22) (aged 43)
Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union
Alma materUniversity of Paris (PhD)
SpouseGeorgetta Gambashidze
Parents
RelativesNikoladze family
Scientific career
ThesisSur les systèmes continus de figures géométriques (1928)
Signature

Giorgi Nikoladze[b] (11 August 1888 – 22 September 1931) was a Georgian mathematician, metallurgist, translator, gymnast, and alpinist. He worked as a professor at Tbilisi State University and as a translator for technical language into Georgian. He was also a cofounder of the Georgian Mathematical Union, founder of the first Georgian gymnastic society Shevardeni, and led a summit to Mount Kazbegi.

Biography

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The son of writer Niko Nikoladze and biologist Olga Guramishvili-Nikoladze, and a member of the Nikoladze noble family, Giorgi Nikoladze was born on 11 August 1888 at Didi Djikhaishi [Wikidata] in Georgia, then part of the Russian Empire. He first studied at the First Tbilisi Classical Gymnasium from 1898 to 1906, then the Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology until 1913, where he was granted a Diploma of Technological Engineer in Metallurgy.[1][2][3] He then began working at the Tula Metallurgical Plant, later moving to the Donetsk Metallurgical Plant in the engineering department, and finally returning to Georgia in 1918.[1][4]

From 1918 to 1928, he worked as a lecturer and then a professor at Tbilisi State University, and was awarded a doctorate from the faculty of sciences [fr] at the University of Paris in 1928[2][3] for his dissertation in geometry.[5] Nikoladze was also an avid gymnast who was an adherent of the Sokol movement, founding the first Georgian gymnastic society Shevardeni in 1918.[6] In 1920, he jointly published a "Russian-Georgian and Georgian-Russian dictionary of mathematical terms" with Archil Kharadze [ka] and Nikoloz Muskhelishvili.[2][3] With this and other translation projects, Nikoladze sought to establish a uniform technical language in Georgian.[7]

Alongside Kharadze, Muskhelishvli, and Andrea Razmadze, he founded the Georgian Mathematical Union in 1923.[8][9] Nikoladze also had a long-time interest in alpinism since his childhood,[10] and in August that same year, he successfully led an expedition to the summit of the 5000-meter high Mount Kazbegi.[11] He was married to Georgetta Gambashidze.[12] He died on 22 September 1931 in Tblisi.[2]

Legacy

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Although Nikoladze was little-known outside the Soviet Union, he was described as "one of the founders of the mathematics section at Tiflis [Tbilisi], and a pioneer in the technical and scientific development of the Caucasus."[7] A monumental bust dedicated to him stands in the Giorgi Nikoladze Memorial Square in Zestaponi.[13]

In 2016, Georgian historian Paata Natsvlishvili hypothesized that Nikoladze was actually the "unknown French boy" who won gold at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. According to Natsvlishvili, Nikoladze's sister had told him in an interview in the 1980s that her brother had won a boat race in France, and that the family had been touring Europe at the time of the Olympics.[14][15] However, some historians from the International Society of Olympic Historians remained unconvinced that Nikoladze was really the unknown boy owing to the circumstantial evidence. Historian Bill Mallon said that the unknown boy only looked "a little" like Nikoladze.[16]

References

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Notes

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  1. ^ In this name that follows East Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Nikolayevich and the family name is Nikoladze.
  2. ^ Georgian: გიორგი ნიკოლაძე, romanized: Giorgi Nikoladze; Russian: Георгий Николаевич Николадзе, romanized: Georgy Nikolayevich Nikoladze;[a] French: Georges Nicoladzé; also called "George Nikoladze" in some English-language sources

Citations

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  1. ^ a b Bamberger 2019, p. 36.
  2. ^ a b c d "G.Nikoladze. Curriculum Vitae". Razmadze Mathematical Institute. Archived from the original on 8 June 2025. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  3. ^ a b c O'Connor, J J; Robertson, E F (September 2018). "Nikoloz Muskhelishvili". MacTutor History of Mathematics. Archived from the original on 8 June 2025. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  4. ^ Kashakashvili, G.; Yugov, P. (1999-12-01). "110th anniversary of the births of G.N. Nikoladze and N.V. Kashakashvili". Metallurgist. 43 (12): 536–537. doi:10.1007/BF02463576. ISSN 1573-8892.
  5. ^ Bamberger 2019, p. 39.
  6. ^ Bamberger 2019, p. 39-40.
  7. ^ a b Portnoy, Esther (1975-08-01). "Georgii Nikolaevich Nikoladze: By A.N. Bogolyubov. Moscow ("Nauka"), 1973. 166 p". Historia Mathematica. 2 (3): 349. doi:10.1016/0315-0860(75)90084-1. ISSN 0315-0860.
  8. ^ Sharikadze, Jondo (2011). "Nikoloz Muskhelishvili – Scientist and Public Figure". Continuum mechanics and related problems of analysis (PDF). Tibilisi. p. 11.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  9. ^ Duduchava, Roland; Natroshvili, David; Gogishvili, Guram (2018-11-30). "Georgian Mathematical Union: History and Activity". European Mathematical Society Magazine. 2018–12 (110): 45–47. doi:10.4171/news/110/14. ISSN 2747-7894.
  10. ^ Bamberger 2019, p. 41.
  11. ^ Bamberger 2019, p. 29.
  12. ^ Pantsulaia, Giorgi (10 January 2025). ""Do you serve the nation?" – "Forever!" (Niko Nikoladze's descendants)". Kutaisi.
  13. ^ Lush, Emily (2024-04-29). "10 Things to Do in Zestafoni, Georgia: Soviet Mosaics & More". Wander-Lush. Retrieved 2025-06-08.
  14. ^ Natsvlishvili, Paata (2016). "Was the "unknown French boy" in 1900 actually from Georgia?". Journal of Olympic History.
  15. ^ Natsvlishvili, Paata (2016), Giorgi Nikoladze : "unknown french boy", Georgian Sports Journalists Association, retrieved 2025-06-08
  16. ^ Robinson, Joshua (2016-08-09). "This Boy Might Be the Youngest Ever Olympian—No One Knows Who He Is". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2025-06-08.

Bibliography

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Further reading

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