LINGUISTS from Georgia

Top 3

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Georgian Linguists of all time. This list of famous Georgian Linguists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Nicholas Marr (1864 - 1934)

With an HPI of 60.85, Nicholas Marr is the most famous Georgian Linguist.  His biography has been translated into 37 different languages on wikipedia.

Nikolai Yakovlevich Marr (Никола́й Я́ковлевич Марр, Nikolay Yakovlevich Marr; ნიკოლოზ იაკობის ძე მარი, Nikoloz Iak'obis dze Mari; 6 January 1865 [O.S. 25 December 1864] — 20 December 1934) was a Georgian-born historian and linguist who gained a reputation as a scholar of the Caucasus during the 1910s before embarking on his "Japhetic theory" on the origin of language (from 1924), now considered as pseudo-scientific, and related speculative linguistic hypotheses. Marr's hypotheses were used as a rationale in the campaign during the 1920–30s in the Soviet Union of introduction of Latin alphabets for smaller ethnicities of the country. In 1950, the "Japhetic theory" fell from official favour, with Joseph Stalin denouncing it as anti-Marxist.

2. Tamaz V. Gamkrelidze (1929 - 2021)

With an HPI of 49.91, Tamaz V. Gamkrelidze is the 2nd most famous Georgian Linguist.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Tamaz Valerianis dze Gamkrelidze (Georgian: თამაზ ვალერიანის ძე გამყრელიძე; 23 October 1929 – 10 February 2021) was a Georgian linguist, orientalist public benefactor and Hittitologist, Academic (since 1974) and President (2005–2013) of the Georgian Academy of Sciences (GAS), Doctor of Sciences (1963), Professor (1964).

3. Vasily Abaev (1900 - 2001)

With an HPI of 47.76, Vasily Abaev is the 3rd most famous Georgian Linguist.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Vasily (Vaso) Ivanovich Abaev, also Abayev or Abayti (Russian: Василий Иванович Абаев, Ossetian: Абайты Иваны фырт Васо; 15 December 1900 – 18 March 2001) was a Soviet Ossetian linguist specializing in Iranian, particularly Ossetian linguistics.