The Role of Women’s Organizations towards the Development of the Idea of University

Tamar Si̇radze,Dali Doborjgi̇ni̇dze

doi:10.31458/iejes.932888

Abstract

Since the Russian Revolution of 1905, the great wave of formation of various types of women’s organizations took a massive scale. At the beginning of 20th century, the first higher educational courses were opened for women in the Caucasus. Significant educational activities were conducted by the following organizations established by and for women: “Georgian Women’s Charity Organization”, “Commission of Tbilisi Women’s Circle”, “Georgian Women’s Society”, “School for Poor Girls”, “Society of Education”, “Society of Knowledge”, “Georgian Unity of Equality for Women”, etc. Hitherto existing charity and educational activities were enriched with the women rights’ problems. Women’s organizations appeared not only in the capital city but the provinces as well. The process strengthened with participation of not only Georgian but women of other nationalities too. The first formalized organizations were functioning as committees, unities, circles or commissions, mostly temporarily. However, they contributed much to the nation’s further educational and cultural development, culminating in the opening of the first university in Georgia in 1918. The aim of the present paper is to trace the process of the formation of the idea of University in Georgia at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, beginning from Ilia Chavchavadze’s invaluable contribution towards the national revival through women’s significant role up to the final foundation of the Tbilisi State University in 1917 and opening it in 1918

Highlights

The reform of the general education in the European countries and the Russian Empire as well as appearance of various written and printed literary platforms in the second half of the 18th century put the world in front of the new cultural challenges
In the 19th century, education left the boundaries of the families and moved into society
Significant educational activities were conducted by the following organizations established by and for women: “Georgian Women’s Charity 159 Organization”, “Commission of Tbilisi Women’s Circle”, “Georgian Women’s Society”, “School for Poor Girls”, “Society of Education”, “Society of Knowledge”, “Georgian Unity of Equality for Women”, etc

Summary

Introduction

The reform of the general education in the European countries and the Russian Empire as well as appearance of various written and printed literary platforms (books, periodicals, etc.) in the second half of the 18th century put the world in front of the new cultural challenges. The understanding of women’s role in the society was based on the “Mother-Pillar” ethno-cultural paradigm – mothers (or women in general) as preservers of fundamental values on which the structure of a family and in broader sense – the whole culture – is constructed. Suffice it to say, women used to transfer the oral knowledge of the Bible and “The Knight in the Panther’s Skin” from generation to generation – as the cultural memory of the language as well as the system of values and national identity. What should be done in order to go hand in hand with modern development, when

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