Obituary: Vakhtang Chikovani (1948-2025) Professor Vakhtang Chikovani was an Ethnologist/Cultural Anthropologist and a journalist, born in the country of Georgia. For several years, he was the Head of the Department of the Ethnology of the Caucasus at the Institute of History and Ethnology, Georgian National Academy of Science. Throughout his career in Georgia, from 1970sContinue Reading
Obituary: Vakhtang Chikovani (1948-2025)
Professor Vakhtang Chikovani was an Ethnologist/Cultural Anthropologist and a journalist, born
in the country of Georgia. For several years, he was the Head of the Department of the
Ethnology of the Caucasus at the Institute of History and Ethnology, Georgian National
Academy of Science.
Throughout his career in Georgia, from 1970s to 1995, he taught various courses in
anthropology, directed many ethnographic expeditions, and conducted extensive ethnographic
fieldwork in the different regions of the Caucasus, Eastern Europe, and Turkey.
After emigrating to the United States in 1995, he continued his research and studies and
published several articles and books in Georgian as well as in English. He advised many Ph.D.
students who wrote their dissertations about the history of Georgia and the Georgian language
and anthropology. He taught the Georgian Language course from 2003 to 2009 at the
Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of California, Berkeley.
Above all, Vakhang Chikovani was the kindest person and a true gentleman. He was an
exceptional husband, the most loving father, and the greatest human being. He will be truly
missed by his colleagues and friends and his loved ones.
Selected Publications
Familial Potpourri, or The Stories that Have not been Told during the Phone Conversations, by
Vakhtang Chikovani, Berkeley, 2019 (in Georgian).
Georgian Myths and Folktales, Translated from Georgian by Shorena Kurtsikidze, Introduction
by Shorena Kurtsikidze and Vakhtang Chikovani, Munich: Lincom Europa, 2019.
Vakhtang Chikovani & Shorena Kurtsikidze, "Georgian Tales," Folktales and Fairy Tales:
Traditions and Texts from Around the World, 2nd Edition, Edited by Anne E. Duggan Ph.D.,
Donald Haase Ph.D., Helen J. Callow, ABC-CLEO. LLC, 2016
Vakhtang Chikovani & Shorena Kurtsikidze, Ethnography and Folklore of the Georgia-ChechnyaBorder: Images, Customs, Myths & Folk Tales of the Peripheries, Munich: Lincom Europa, 2008.
Ryan K. Shosted and Vakhtang Chikovani, "Standard Georgian: Illustrations of the IPA," Journal
of the International Phonetic Association, 2006, 36: 255-264.
Georgian Folklore; Reader, Parts 1-2, Compiled by Vakhtang Chikovani &Shorena Kurtsikidze,
Anthropology 162, Spring 2oo5, University of California, Berkeley. Content and Suggested Readings.
Vakhtang Chikovani & Shorena Kurtsikidze, Georgia's Pankisi Gorge: An Ethnographic Survey,
Berkeley Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies,University of California, Berkeley, Spring
2002.
Georgian Magic Tales, Vol. 1-2; Selected and Edited by Mikheil Chikovani and Vakhtang
Chikovani, Ganatleba Publ., Tbilisi, 1993-94 (in Georgian).
Georgian Jews in Georgia, by Zacharia Chichinadze (1854-1931), Edited and Introduction by
Vakhtang Chikovani, Metsniereba Academic Press, Tbilisi, 1990 (in Georgian).
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