Greeks in Georgia
Encyclopedia
The Greek diaspora
in Georgia
is estimated at between 15,000 and 20,000 people (15,166 according to the latest census) down from about 100,000 in 1989. The community has dwindled due to the large wave of repatriation to Greece (though few had ancestors who were ever citizens of the Greek state), as well as emigration to Russia. The community has established the Union of Greeks in Georgia and there is a Cultural Centre and a newspaper entitled Greek Diaspora.
The Greek
presence in Georgia, specifically in its western part (ancient Colchis
), is attested to the 7th century BC
, as part of the Old Greek Diaspora and has traditionally been concentrated in the Black Sea
coast. According to one version, which does not now enjoy much currency, the English name of the country (which is called Sakartvelo in Georgian
) is Greek in origin and means agriculture. The Greeks are known as berdzeni
(ბერძენი) in Georgian
, a unique exonym, deriving from the Georgian word for "wise," a name commonly attributed to the notion that philosophy
was born in Greece. Medieval Georgians customarily applied this name to the Byzantines
. Greek artists and artisans were frequently seen in medieval Georgia. There was also a high degree of intermarriages between noble families, and several Georgian aristocratic houses, such as the Andronikashvili
, claimed Greek descent.
The Greek communities of modern Georgia are relatively newcomers, though. In 1763, 800 Greek households from the Ottoman Empire
’s Gümüşhane Province
were transplanted by King Heraclius II of Georgia to develop silver and lead mining at Akhtala
and Alaverdi
(now in Armenia
). Their descendants survive in Georgia’s Marneuli
district. The next important, and the largest, influx
of Anatolia
n Greeks, fleeing the persecutions by the Ottomans after the Greek War of Independence
, came in 1829-30. These were the Christian, but largely Turcophone Greeks known as Urums
, who settled in the latter-day Tsalka
district on the territory of the depopulated medieval Georgian province of Trialeti
, then part of the Russian Empire
. The Pontic Greek
refugees also settled along Georgia’s Black Sea
coastline, forming substantial and active community in the maritime towns. By 1989, the largest Greek communities of Georgia were concentrated in Tsalka, Tbilisi
, and Abkhazia
, comprising 38.6%, 21.6% and 14.6% of all Georgian Greeks, respectively. Although Georgians and Greeks share many cultural traits, the Greek community of Georgia became more integrated with the Russians during the Soviet
era. Many of them attended Russian schools, and spoke Russian as their secondary or even primary language. The post-Soviet civil strife and economic crisis forced many Greeks to emigrate abroad permanently, or on seasonal works. As a result, their number dropped to 15.166 (3,792 of them living in Tbilisi) as of the 2002 Georgia census (which does not include the data from a large part of breakaway Abkhazia).
, ethnic Greeks of the Abkhaz ASSR were deported
on Stalin's order in 1949/50. They were allowed to return in the late 1950s, however their number never reached pre-deportation level.
Most of the Greeks fled Abkhazia (mostly to Greece and Russia) during and after the 1992-1993 war so that their number dropped from 14,664 in 1989 to just 1,486 in 2003. Greece carried out a humanitarian operation, Operation Golden Fleece
, evacuating 1,015 Greeks who had decided to abandon their homes in Abkhazia on August 15, 1993.
. Today about 2,000 remain, mostly elderly, as most chose to migrate to Greece. Many Greek Georgians returning to the country for Greek Easter
find their homes looted or occupied by squatters, mostly immigrants from other regions of the country, who refuse to allow them entry. Consequently the number of Greeks returning to Georgia has decreased. Some have claimed that the difficulties they face in reclaiming the homes are part of a deliberate attempt by the Georgian government to uproot the community in favour of ethnic Georgians
. Instances of violence, related to the above have sometimes resulted in the death of elderly Greeks while more have been injured. The Georgian government had to twice dispatch a Special Forces unit to prevent further outbreaks of inter-communal violence. In 2005 the Council of Greeks in Georgia has appealed to the World Council of Hellenes, SAE, registering their fear caused by the increasing instances of previously rare ethnic violence against them. The matter was also discussed in the parliament of Greece.
Greek diaspora
The Greek diaspora, also known as Hellenic Diaspora or Diaspora of Hellenism, is a term used to refer to the communities of Greek people living outside the traditional Greek homelands, but more commonly in southeast Europe and Asia Minor...
in Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
is estimated at between 15,000 and 20,000 people (15,166 according to the latest census) down from about 100,000 in 1989. The community has dwindled due to the large wave of repatriation to Greece (though few had ancestors who were ever citizens of the Greek state), as well as emigration to Russia. The community has established the Union of Greeks in Georgia and there is a Cultural Centre and a newspaper entitled Greek Diaspora.
History
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
presence in Georgia, specifically in its western part (ancient Colchis
Colchis
In ancient geography, Colchis or Kolkhis was an ancient Georgian state kingdom and region in Western Georgia, which played an important role in the ethnic and cultural formation of the Georgian nation.The Kingdom of Colchis contributed significantly to the development of medieval Georgian...
), is attested to the 7th century BC
7th century BC
The 7th century BC started the first day of 700 BC and ended the last day of 601 BC.The Assyrian Empire continued to dominate the Near East during this century, exercising formidable power over neighbors like Babylon and Egypt. In the last two decades of the century, however, the empire began to...
, as part of the Old Greek Diaspora and has traditionally been concentrated in the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
coast. According to one version, which does not now enjoy much currency, the English name of the country (which is called Sakartvelo 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...
) is Greek in origin and means agriculture. The Greeks are known as berdzeni
Names of the Greeks
The Greeks have been called by several names, both by themselves and by other people. The most common native ethnonym is Hellenes ; the name Greeks was used by the Romans and then in all European languages....
(ბერძენი) 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...
, a unique exonym, deriving from the Georgian word for "wise," a name commonly attributed to the notion that philosophy
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...
was born in Greece. Medieval Georgians customarily applied this name to the Byzantines
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
. Greek artists and artisans were frequently seen in medieval Georgia. There was also a high degree of intermarriages between noble families, and several Georgian aristocratic houses, such as the Andronikashvili
Andronikashvili
The Andronikashvili sometimes known as Endronikashvili was a princely family in Georgia which claimed their descent from the Byzantine Comnenid dynasty and played a prominent role in political, military and religious life of Georgia...
, claimed Greek descent.
The Greek communities of modern Georgia are relatively newcomers, though. In 1763, 800 Greek households from the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
’s Gümüşhane Province
Gümüshane Province
Gümüşhane Province is a province in northern Turkey, bordering Bayburt to the east, Trabzon to the north, Giresun and Erzincan to the west. It covers an area of 6,575 km² and has a population of 129,618 in 2010. The population was 186,953 in 2000. The name Gümüşhane means silver house...
were transplanted by King Heraclius II of Georgia to develop silver and lead mining at Akhtala
Akhtala
Akhtala a town in Lori Province, Armenia with 2800 inhabitants according to 2009 estimate. It is situated on the left bank of Debed river at adistance of 186 km north of Yerevan and 62 km north of provincial centre Vanadzor on the slopes of Lalvar mountain. Akhtala was a village until 1939 when it...
and Alaverdi
Alaverdi
Alaverdi formerly Manes, is a city situated in the northeast of the Armenian province of Lori, not far from the border with Georgia. This mining and industrial city with approximately 16,500 inhabitants -down from 26,300 of the 1989- situated at the bottom of the Debed river gorge, is one of the...
(now in Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
). Their descendants survive in Georgia’s Marneuli
Marneuli
Marneuli is a small city in the Kvemo Kartli region of southern Georgia and administrative center of Marneuli District that borders neighboring Azerbaijan and Armenia.-Population:...
district. The next important, and the largest, influx
Greek refugees
Greek refugees is a collective term used to refer to the Greeks from Asia Minor who were evacuated or relocated in Greece following the Treaty of Lausanne and the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey...
of Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
n Greeks, fleeing the persecutions by the Ottomans after the Greek War of Independence
Greek War of Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between...
, came in 1829-30. These were the Christian, but largely Turcophone Greeks known as Urums
Urums
Urums, singular Urum is a broad historical term that was used by some Turkic-speaking peoples to define Greeks who lived in Muslim states, particularly in the Ottoman Empire and Crimea...
, who settled in the latter-day Tsalka
Tsalka
- Population :The district had a population of 22,000. According to the 2002 census 55% of its population is Armenian, 22% Greek, 12% Georgian, and 9.5% Azerbaijanis...
district on the territory of the depopulated medieval Georgian province of Trialeti
Trialeti
Trialeti is a mountainous area in central Georgia. In Georgian its name means "a place of wandering". The Trialeti Range is a part of the greater Trialeti Region....
, then part of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. The Pontic Greek
Pontic Greeks
The Pontians are an ethnic group traditionally living in the Pontus region, the shores of Turkey's Black Sea...
refugees also settled along Georgia’s Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
coastline, forming substantial and active community in the maritime towns. By 1989, the largest Greek communities of Georgia were concentrated in Tsalka, Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
, and Abkhazia
Abkhazia
Abkhazia is a disputed political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny...
, comprising 38.6%, 21.6% and 14.6% of all Georgian Greeks, respectively. Although Georgians and Greeks share many cultural traits, the Greek community of Georgia became more integrated with the Russians during the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
era. Many of them attended Russian schools, and spoke Russian as their secondary or even primary language. The post-Soviet civil strife and economic crisis forced many Greeks to emigrate abroad permanently, or on seasonal works. As a result, their number dropped to 15.166 (3,792 of them living in Tbilisi) as of the 2002 Georgia census (which does not include the data from a large part of breakaway Abkhazia).
Greeks in Abkhazia
After World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, ethnic Greeks of the Abkhaz ASSR were deported
Population transfer in the Soviet Union
Population transfer in the Soviet Union may be classified into the following broad categories: deportations of "anti-Soviet" categories of population, often classified as "enemies of workers," deportations of entire nationalities, labor force transfer, and organized migrations in opposite...
on Stalin's order in 1949/50. They were allowed to return in the late 1950s, however their number never reached pre-deportation level.
Most of the Greeks fled Abkhazia (mostly to Greece and Russia) during and after the 1992-1993 war so that their number dropped from 14,664 in 1989 to just 1,486 in 2003. Greece carried out a humanitarian operation, Operation Golden Fleece
Operation Golden Fleece
The operation Golden Fleece was the humanitarian operation carried out by Greece in 1993 to evacuate over 1,000 native Greeks from Georgia fleeing the War in Abkhazia.-Greeks in Abkhazia:...
, evacuating 1,015 Greeks who had decided to abandon their homes in Abkhazia on August 15, 1993.
Greeks in Tsalka
Until thirty years ago Greeks made up 70% of the 30,000 strong population of the Georgian city of TsalkaTsalka
- Population :The district had a population of 22,000. According to the 2002 census 55% of its population is Armenian, 22% Greek, 12% Georgian, and 9.5% Azerbaijanis...
. Today about 2,000 remain, mostly elderly, as most chose to migrate to Greece. Many Greek Georgians returning to the country for Greek Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
find their homes looted or occupied by squatters, mostly immigrants from other regions of the country, who refuse to allow them entry. Consequently the number of Greeks returning to Georgia has decreased. Some have claimed that the difficulties they face in reclaiming the homes are part of a deliberate attempt by the Georgian government to uproot the community in favour of ethnic Georgians
Georgian people
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....
. Instances of violence, related to the above have sometimes resulted in the death of elderly Greeks while more have been injured. The Georgian government had to twice dispatch a Special Forces unit to prevent further outbreaks of inter-communal violence. In 2005 the Council of Greeks in Georgia has appealed to the World Council of Hellenes, SAE, registering their fear caused by the increasing instances of previously rare ethnic violence against them. The matter was also discussed in the parliament of Greece.
See also
- Georgian-Greek relationsGeorgian-Greek relationsGeorgian-Greek relations are foreign relations between Georgia and Greece. Both countries established embassy level diplomatic relations on April 20, 1992. Greeks have been present in Georgia since antiquity. There are also an important number of people of Greek descent in Georgia .-External...
- Pontic GreeksPontic GreeksThe Pontians are an ethnic group traditionally living in the Pontus region, the shores of Turkey's Black Sea...
- Pontic Greek (language)
- Georgian Byzantine-Rite CatholicsGeorgian Byzantine-Rite CatholicsGeorgian Byzantine Rite Catholics are estimated at only 500 worldwide.-History:...
- Greeks in RussiaGreeks in RussiaThe Greek presence in southern Russia is dated to the 6th century BC. Today there are about 188,000 people of Greek extraction living in the Russian Federation. Most live in the south and the Black Sea region with large concentrations in Moscow and St. Petersburg...
- Greeks in UkraineGreeks in UkraineA Greek presence throughout the Black Sea area existed long before the beginnings of Kievan Rus. For most of their history in this area, the history of the Greeks in Russia and in Ukraine forms a single narrative, of which a division according to present-day boundaries would be an artificial...
- Greek DiasporaGreek diasporaThe Greek diaspora, also known as Hellenic Diaspora or Diaspora of Hellenism, is a term used to refer to the communities of Greek people living outside the traditional Greek homelands, but more commonly in southeast Europe and Asia Minor...