CHIKOBAVA, ARNOLD (1898–1985). Georgian linguist and philologist, one of the founders of the Georgian Academy of Sciences (GAS). Born in Mingrelia, he graduated from Tbilisi State University in 1922 and began working as associate professor and professor (1933) of linguistics at the university. In 1933–1960, he directed the Department of Caucasology, and between 1936 and 1985, he led the Department of the Iberian-Caucasian languages of the Institute of Linguistics of the Georgian Academy of Sciences (later renamed Arnold Chikobava Institute of Linguistics). In the 1940s, he was one of the founders of the GAS, and from 1950–1953, he served in the Presidium of the GAS. During almost six decades of his academic career, Chikobava studied the Iberian-Caucasian languages, the history of Georgian language and literature, the Basque-Caucasian hypothesis, and other areas. He established the scientific school of Iberian-Caucasian linguistics and founded and edited the journal Iberian-Caucasian Linguistics. His work was recognized both in the USSR and abroad, and Chikobava received the Lomonosov Prize and State Prize of the USSR as well as an honorary doctorate from the University of Berlin.

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