It can be said that the Tbilisi State University assumed the responsibility for observing and administering the Georgian museums of that time. Returning the national treasure scattered throughout Russia and foreign countries during hard times became a major source of concern for Ivane Javakhishvili and other university professors. They looked for unique books published abroad, as well as rare publications and manuscripts trying to purchase them for the University.
Gradually the newly founded University was enriched with unique collections and lab equipment. One of the first purchases was a collection of photographic negatives and photos by a famous Russian photographer Dimitri Ermakov. With regard to the collection, Ivane Javakhishvili wrote: ‘Owing to it, we not only have dozens of photos of historical monuments, nature and inhabitants of Georgia, but also of Transcaucasus, Persia and Turkey, which cannot be obtained anywhere else...’
During the very first years of the university’s activities, it became possible to organize rooms for art history, crystallography and mineralogy, botany, dendrology, zoology and entomology studies with lots of rare exhibits in their funds. Special expeditions were held for gathering collections in botany and zoology.
On 28 November 1919, Giorgi Chubinashvili, an art historian, applied to the Tbilisi State University’s administration and offered a plan for establishing an art room or a museum within the university. The abolished chapel inside the university building was selected, where the university’s Old Georgian Art Museum functioned from 1924 until 1930. Unique samples of IX-XIX cc. Georgian embossing, cloisonné enamel, paintings, embroidery and woodwork were preserved in its collections.
Museums of different profiles were created at the University. For example, on the initiative of the students’ agronomic circle the Agrarian Museum was established, which was named after Petre Melikishvili in 1922. The University also had the Forestry Museum where the collections brought from the Likani Palace in 1923 were displayed (after the foundation of the Agrarian Institute on the basis of the University, the museum was handed over to the Institute).
On 10 June 1921, the Church Museum was transferred to the University. The Board of Professors appointed Korneli Kekelidze head of the museum and Mose Janashvili - his assistant.
The Antiquities Museum was founded during the same period. In the mid twenties, there were four museums in the University building. The first one was the State University Antiquities Museum with an unusually rich collection of Georgian manuscripts, the main funds of which were based on the former Antiquities Museum collections. The Georgian Historical-Ethnographic Museum kept significant materials of the Georgian Historical-Ethnographic Society. The Museum of the Society Disseminating Georgian Publications and Books (former Society for the Spreading of Literacy among Georgians) preserved manuscripts, ethnographic and numismatic collections and samples of the Bronze Age chased work. The museum also had the richest library of Georgian publications printed in Tbilisi. In 1925, by order of People’s Commissariat for Education, all the collections belonging to the Literacy Society were transferred to the University’s ownership. However, in 1937, this remarkable book fund was transferred to the Georgian State Public Library, while the manuscripts (presently kept in the National Centre for Manuscripts) – to the State Museum of Georgia.
By 1926, the University had several subordinate scientific-educational centers, among them were - Mineralogy (head, Prof. A. Tvalchrelidze), Art History (head, Prof. G. Chubinashvili), Geology head, Prof. A Janelidze), Zoology (head, Docent G. Javakhishvili), Anatomy and Physiology of Plants (head A. Aleksandrov), Entomology (head, Prof. A Javakhishvili), Numismatics (head T. Lomouri) and Photography (head T. Kiune) laboratories. At present the university museum fund includes tens of thousands of exhibits. It preserves: unique photo materials regarding the university foundation and history; manuscripts, publications and memorabilia belonging to the founders of the university; paintings and graphics of outstanding modern Georgian artists, as well as gifts.
Gradually the newly founded University was enriched with unique collections and lab equipment. One of the first purchases was a collection of photographic negatives and photos by a famous Russian photographer Dimitri Ermakov. With regard to the collection, Ivane Javakhishvili wrote: ‘Owing to it, we not only have dozens of photos of historical monuments, nature and inhabitants of Georgia, but also of Transcaucasus, Persia and Turkey, which cannot be obtained anywhere else...’
During the very first years of the university’s activities, it became possible to organize rooms for art history, crystallography and mineralogy, botany, dendrology, zoology and entomology studies with lots of rare exhibits in their funds. Special expeditions were held for gathering collections in botany and zoology.
On 28 November 1919, Giorgi Chubinashvili, an art historian, applied to the Tbilisi State University’s administration and offered a plan for establishing an art room or a museum within the university. The abolished chapel inside the university building was selected, where the university’s Old Georgian Art Museum functioned from 1924 until 1930. Unique samples of IX-XIX cc. Georgian embossing, cloisonné enamel, paintings, embroidery and woodwork were preserved in its collections.
Museums of different profiles were created at the University. For example, on the initiative of the students’ agronomic circle the Agrarian Museum was established, which was named after Petre Melikishvili in 1922. The University also had the Forestry Museum where the collections brought from the Likani Palace in 1923 were displayed (after the foundation of the Agrarian Institute on the basis of the University, the museum was handed over to the Institute).
On 10 June 1921, the Church Museum was transferred to the University. The Board of Professors appointed Korneli Kekelidze head of the museum and Mose Janashvili - his assistant.
The Antiquities Museum was founded during the same period. In the mid twenties, there were four museums in the University building. The first one was the State University Antiquities Museum with an unusually rich collection of Georgian manuscripts, the main funds of which were based on the former Antiquities Museum collections. The Georgian Historical-Ethnographic Museum kept significant materials of the Georgian Historical-Ethnographic Society. The Museum of the Society Disseminating Georgian Publications and Books (former Society for the Spreading of Literacy among Georgians) preserved manuscripts, ethnographic and numismatic collections and samples of the Bronze Age chased work. The museum also had the richest library of Georgian publications printed in Tbilisi. In 1925, by order of People’s Commissariat for Education, all the collections belonging to the Literacy Society were transferred to the University’s ownership. However, in 1937, this remarkable book fund was transferred to the Georgian State Public Library, while the manuscripts (presently kept in the National Centre for Manuscripts) – to the State Museum of Georgia.
By 1926, the University had several subordinate scientific-educational centers, among them were - Mineralogy (head, Prof. A. Tvalchrelidze), Art History (head, Prof. G. Chubinashvili), Geology head, Prof. A Janelidze), Zoology (head, Docent G. Javakhishvili), Anatomy and Physiology of Plants (head A. Aleksandrov), Entomology (head, Prof. A Javakhishvili), Numismatics (head T. Lomouri) and Photography (head T. Kiune) laboratories. At present the university museum fund includes tens of thousands of exhibits. It preserves: unique photo materials regarding the university foundation and history; manuscripts, publications and memorabilia belonging to the founders of the university; paintings and graphics of outstanding modern Georgian artists, as well as gifts.