A Public Lecture Dedicated to the 304th Anniversary of Erekle II’s Birth Held at GTU

The 304th anniversary of King Erekle II’s birth was celebrated with a public lecture at the Faculty of Engineering Economics, Media Technologies and Social Sciences of the Georgian Technical University, within the framework of events dedicated to the life and activity of Kartli-Kakheti – King Erekle II.

The public lecture “Erekle in the memoirs of the second French officer, Charles de Gray de Foix”, which was held by GTU associate professor, doctor of History Besik Gafrindashvili, was opened by the dean of the Faculty of Engineering Economics, Media Technologies and Social Sciences. As Professor Ivane Jagodnishvili noted, historians accidentally consider King Erekle as the “Napoleon of the East”.

Throughout his long life, “Little Kakhi” survived at least 500 big and small battles.

“Charles de Gray de Foix, a French officer of the second half of the 18th century, who served as a captain in the Russian army during the Russo-Ottoman War (1768-1774) and was an adjutant of General Totleben, described the situation in Georgia at that time in his memoirs.

De Gray de Foix witnessed the battle of the Georgian-Russian army against the Ottomans during the capture of the Atskuri fortress. He describes in detail the course of the war campaign and, as a military expert, gives a correct assessment of the tactics and strategy of Erekle II.

It should be noted that the memoir-like relation, which Dr. Besik Gafrindashvili will talk about, was written in 1777-1783 and was kept in the archives of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and was published for the first time in 1954 by the English Caucasologist David Marshall Lang.

Because during the history of existence, the Georgian people constantly waged battles against conquerors of various sorts, and the periods of peace were very short, therefore the history of our homeland is actually “The History of Wars”, as scientists and historians rightly point out.

“The last great ruler of Kakheti” – Erekle II is considered as one of the famous generals. Incessant wars and victories in these wars made his name so famous even in Europe that Frederick II the Great (1712-1786) said: “I am in the West, and Prince Erekle is in the East, the king of Georgians”. I hope the public lecture will answer many unanswered questions for students,” noted Ivane Jagodnishvili.

Dr. Besik Gafrindashvili, in the framework of the public lecture, introduced to the students the memoirs of the French officer – Charles de Gray de Foix, and under the auspices of the Georgian Technical University, the author’s book “Epic of Erekle” by Ivane Jagodnishvili, dedicated to the work of King Erekle II, which is dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the great Georgian king Erekle II. It was published 4 years ago as part of the events.

“The Epic of Erekle”, the text of the poetic epic created by the Georgian people and the study of its theoretical and scientific foundations, is a part of Georgian history.

At the end of the public lecture, Dr. Besik Gaprindashvili answered the students’ questions.