Arnold Chikobava

Who was Arnold Chikobava?

Arnold Chikobava was a Georgian linguist and philologist best known for his contributions to Caucasian studies and for being one of the most active critics of Nicholas Marr's controversial monogenetic "Japhetic" theory of language.

Chikobava was born in the small village of Sachikobavo in Samegrelo, western Georgia. He graduated from the recently established Tbilisi State University in 1922 and earned a degree there, later serving as a docent and professor. For years, he headed the Department of Caucasian Studies at TSU, and the Department of Ibero-Caucasian languages at the Institute of Linguistics in Tbilisi. This institute, briefly directed by Chikobava from 1950 and 1952, now bears his name. In 1941, he became one of the founding members of the Georgian Academy of Sciences and was elected to its Presidium from 1950 to 1963. For his prolific work, he was awarded numerous Soviet and international prizes and titles. He authored a series of Georgian dictionaries and influential works on the structure and history of Caucasian languages.