Historian Gocha Japaridze has passed away at the age of 78

The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia expresses its deep sorrow over the passing of historian Gocha Japaridze and extends its condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues.

Over the years, Gocha Japaridze served as a research fellow at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Georgian Academy of Sciences; Vice-Rector of the Tbilisi Institute of Asia and Africa; Head of the Departments of Modern, Contemporary, and Medieval Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies; Dean and Professor of the Faculties of Oriental Studies and Humanities at Tbilisi Ivane Javakhishvili State University; Director of the Cultural Center in Damascus; Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the Arab Republic of Egypt; and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to Kuwait and other Persian Gulf countries, as well as to the Arab Republics of Egypt and Syria.

Gocha Japaridze is the author of numerous scientific works and monographs, including: "Essays on the History of Georgian Metrology (9th–19th Centuries)", "Georgia and the Islamic World of the Near East in the 12th – First Third of the 13th Century", "Georgia and the Mamluks of Egypt", "Georgian Monasteries and Monastic Community in the Holy Land in the 11th–18th Centuries", and others. He has published over a hundred scientific papers in academic editions in Georgian, European, and Arabic languages.

Gocha Japaridze has been awarded the Ivane Javakhishvili Medal and the Presidential Order of Excellence.