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GEORGIAN HEROES - DIMITRI SHEVARDNADZE

#Georgianheroes • Dimitri Shevardnadze (1885 – 1937) was a public figure who was instrumental in determining the cultural life of the country throughout the 1920s and 1930s, and contributed to the establishment of two leading Georgian cultural institutions: the National Gallery of Fine Arts (1920) and the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts (1922). Between 1906 and 1914 Shevardnadze lived in Munich, where he studied at the Art Academy. Upon his return to Georgia in 1916, he founded and led the Association of Georgian Artists. In 1918, he was commissioned by Professor Ivane Javakhishvili, the rector of Tbilisi State University, to design the coat of arms for the recently founded first higher education institution in Georgia. He also designed banknotes and made sketches of postage stamps for the newly independent country. Dimitri Shevardnadze organized a major scientific and artistic expedition to the historically important southern regions of Georgia. Dimitri Shevardnadze was an artist, curator, and film set designer who was also prolific in the field of scenography.