...Having come a certain stage of his life, and looking back, Edvard Rtveladze can say: I have done all I could, who can do more, venture it... |
Edvard Rtveladze
Edvard Rtveladze has a widespread renown in Uzbekistan and far beyond its boundaries . He is one of the most prominent scientists , whose range of interests and encyclopaedic knowledge are stupendous ; an archeologist and an expert on the history , culture and art of the Orient , especially, of Central Asia. Being of Georgian extraction, he has devoted his love , talent , and creative potential to studying the culture of the Orient, of Asia, and of the land of Uzbekistan.E. Rtveladze was born in 1942 under a sign of the zodiac that endowed him with amazing generosity , uncompromising attitude of mind, devotion to science, and with diligence. It is him that Plinius Snr's words can be applied to: " Nulla dies sine linea "- no day without a line . The phrase is a principle that E.Rtveladze has followed all his life, starting from his youth when he was a student at the archeological department of Tashkent State University and published his first articles on field work carried out in various regions of Central Asia. Being a patriot of the Caucasus, imbued with the love to the history of Central Asia, Rtveladze chose a theme for his dissertation titled : "Of the history of urban culture in the Caucasus and its connection with Central Asia .", which was brilliantly defended in 1975 in Leningrad. Archeological data , obtained as a result of fieldwork throughout Central Asia in numerous expeditions, provided food for thought and material for writing a doctoral thesis titled: "Ancient Bactria and cultural development" which was defended in 1989 in Moscow.
At present E.Rtveladze is one of the best known world's names in the field . His works have been published in many countries . Among them are France, Japan , England, the U.S., etc., and such his works as "Ancient coins of Central Asia", "Muslim Holy Places of Uzbekistan", "Antiquities of the Past", "Ancient Bactria and Medieval Tokharistan" became rarities right after the issue . Continuing the traditions of his teachers - those of B.M.Masson of G.A.Pugachenkova - E.Rtveladze has always paid attention to educating specialists of the new generation who at present successfully work not only in our country but abroad (Greece , Israel , the U.S., France , Russia ).
Official dry data of bibliographical reference has never given a good idea of the man and the scientist. When one speaks of Edvard Rtveladze, there is a desire to avoid academism and officialism. All his image, way of life and work, his civility and social intercourse defy the official, and are indisputable merit of the prominent scientist who democratizes science which should not depend on a political conjuncture and "social orders". To find facts, analyze them, to infer and make publications - that is a scientist's devotion, because "verba volant, scripta manet" - words fly away, the written remains. Having come a certain stage of his life, and looking back, Edvard Rtveladze can say: I have done all I could, who can do more, venture it.