One French Source About Kutaisi

Abstract

Among the many famous foreign travelers visited Kutaisi and the whole Georgia in the XIX century, we should undoubtedly mention French diplomat, orientalist, travel writer, archaeologist, philanthropist and literary critic Vicomte Marie-EugèneMelchior de Vogüé(1848-1910). In 1875-1882 he worked as a secretary at the French embassy in Saint Petersburg. During this period, he traveled around the Russian Empire, including our country. In 1882 Marie-Eugène-Melchior de Vogüé quit his diplomatic career. After that in 1888, he became a member of French Academy. He had many books and works about his traveling impressions and experiences. One of the most important works of Marie-Eugène-Melchior de Vogüé is “Through the Caucasus”. It is one of the parts of the book called “The Tsar and his People: or, Social Life in Russia”, which was published in 1891 in New York.Our interest in this book mainly was evoked by the fact that it contains much interesting information about Georgian history, culture, traditions and social life of the population in the second half of the XIX century.

Conclusively, it will not be an exaggeration if we say that Marie-Eugène-Melchior  de Vogüé’s above-mentioned work, despite certain inaccuracies, should be considered as a significant material for researchers studying the events of Tbilisi and Georgia generally of that period.