Luigi Magarotto Awarded Honorary Doctorate at TSU

The Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU) hosted a ceremony of awarding honorary doctorate to Luigi Magarotto, Emeritus Professor at Ca Foscari University of Venice and a famous Georgian Kartvelologist. TSU Rector, Academician Vladimer Papava, Italian Ambassador to Georgia, Federica Favi, TSU academic staff and invited guests attended the event.

TSU Rector Vladimer Papava said: “By signing the Association Agreement with EU Georgia took another step towards realizing a long lasting dream of Georgian people to become a member of European family. It is pleasant that this important event coincided with awarding an honorary doctorate to a famous scientist, Kartvelologist Luigi Magarotto. I congratulate Luigi Magarotto on this honorary title. I am sure that his creative works will become more fruitful in future that will promote Georgia’s international popularization.”

“It is a great honor for me to visit the Tbilisi State University and congratulate you on signing the Association Agreement with EU. Georgia was pursuing this goal for a long time and the result is very important for the country. Georgia and Italy have a long relationship. Luigi Magarotto worked hard recently to bring the two countries closer. I sincerely congratulate the Italian scientist on this honorary award and I am sure that he will do much for boosting friendly relations between Georgia and Italy,” Italian Ambassador to Georgia, Federica Favi said.

“It is a great honor for me to be awarded an honorary doctorate of the oldest Georgian university. I started to learn the Georgian language and literature just in this university. I am fond of Georgian culture, literature and generally Georgia. I want to express my gratitude to the university for appreciating my contribution,” TSU Honorary Doctor Luigi Magarotto said.

Luigi Magarotto, Emeritus Professor at Ca Foscari University of Venice, is a famous Kartvelologist, who has been cooperating with professors and researchers from the Tbilisi State University for decades. Upon his initiative, a series of lectures on various problems of Kartvelology was delivered at the University of Venice; in the 80s of the 20th century a scientific collection Georgika was published at the University of Venice under his guidance. Magarotto has translated the best Georgian literary works into Italian, including poems Aluda Ketelauri, Host and Guest, Snake Eater by Vazha Pshavela; he acquainted Italian readers with the poetry of Galaktion Tabidze, Simon Chikovani and Titsian Tabidze. Luigi Magarotto writes much about Georgian writers and Georgian literature. His historic monograph “Annexation of Georgia by Russia” (1783-1801) and a lot of articles in encyclopedic publications are also worth noting.

Luigi Magarotto is actively cooperating with the Tbilisi State University; he is a member of the editorial board of several scientific journals published by the Faculty of Humanities; he frequently participates in various scientific forums dedicated to the issues of Kartvelology.