Euthymius the Athonite ( Ekvtime Atoneli) (ca.955-1028) was a renowned Georgian

Georgians

The Georgians are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America....

 philosopher

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

 and scholar, also known as Eufimius the Abasgian or St. Euthymius the Georgian. His feast day in the Orthodox Church is May 13

May 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

May 12 - Eastern Orthodox Church calendar - May 14All fixed commemorations below celebrated on May 26 by Old Calendarists-Saints:* Virgin-martyr Glyceria at Heraclea, Propontis * Martyr Laodicius, jailer of Saint Glyceria...

.

The son of Ioane Varaz-vache Chordvaneli and nephew of the great Tornike Eristavi, Euthymius was taken as a hostage to Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

 but was later released and became a monk joining the Great Lavra

Great Lavra

This is the monastery on Mount Athos. For the monastery associated with Saint Sabbas, see Mar Saba.The Monastery of Great Lavra is the first monastery built on Mount Athos. It is located on the southeastern foot of the Mount at an elevation of 160 metres...

 of Athanasios on Mount Athos

Mount Athos

Mount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...

. He subsequently became the leader of the Georgian Iviron monastery

Iviron monastery

Holy Monastery of Iviron is an Eastern Orthodox monastery at the monastic state of Mount Athos in Greece...

 and emerged as one of the finest Eastern Christian

Eastern Orthodox Church

The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...

 theologians and scholars of his age. Fluent in Georgian

Georgian language

Georgian is the native language of the Georgians and the official language of Georgia, a country in the Caucasus.Georgian is the primary language of about 4 million people in Georgia itself, and of another 500,000 abroad...

, Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 and other languages, he translated many religious treatises and philosophical works. Among his major works was the translation of sibrdzne balavarisa (Wisdom of Balahvari), a Christianized version of episodes from the life of Gautama Buddha

Gautama Buddha

Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...

 that became very popular in Medieval Europe as the story of Barlaam and Josaphat. Of equal importance was Euthymius’ work to prepare Georgian translations of various Greek philosophical, ecclesiastical and legal discourses.

Sources

• Theodor Dowling, Sketches of Georgian Church History, Adamant Media Corporation (October 9, 2003), ISBN 1421228912