# Akaki Chanturia

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**Akaki Chanturia** (Georgian: *აკაკი ჭანტურია*, 1881 – 11 May 1949) was a Georgian scientist, [archaeologist](/source/Archaeology) and [ethnographer](/source/Ethnography). Educated primarily in England, where he lived from 1904 to 1920, Chanturia returned to his native [Samegrelo](/source/Samegrelo) to established the [Dadiani Palaces Museum](/source/Dadiani_Palaces_Museum) in [Zugdidi](/source/Zugdidi).

## Early life and education in England

Born in 1881, Chanturia attended a religious school in [Senaki](/source/Senaki), a small town in [Samegrelo](/source/Samegrelo). He could have entered the [Tbilisi Theological Seminary](/source/Tbilisi_Theological_Seminary), but instead decided to pursue his studies abroad. To achieve that goal, he moved to [Batumi](/source/Batumi) to work at the [Rothschild](/source/Rothschild_family) factory, where he learned English and saved his pay to finance a trip to England.

Chanturia moved to London in 1904, where he worked as a private teacher of [Russian](/source/Russian_language). At the same time he enrolled at university[clarification needed] in the faculty of [geology](/source/Geology). He also studied [archaeology](/source/Archaeology), [history](/source/History), [cartography](/source/Cartography), [ethnography](/source/Ethnography), [museology](/source/Museology), [philology](/source/Philology), [art](/source/Art) and [folklore](/source/Folkloristics), and took part in scientific and artistic visits and excursions organised by the [British Museum](/source/British_Museum).

Chanturia returned briefly to Georgia in 1912, where he collected a large amount of geological and paleontological material in Samegrelo. He used this material to complete his thesis, *Geology of Georgia*, published in 1919. Upon returning to England in 1913, he studied at [King's College](/source/King's_College_London), where he received a [Bachelor of Science](/source/Bachelor_of_Science), and at the [Royal College of Art](/source/Royal_College_of_Art).

## Return to Georgia

Chanturia returned to Georgia permanently in 1920, and settled in Senaki with his wife, an Englishwoman named Kate Walter Ball, whom he taught [Georgian](/source/Georgian_language) and [Mingrelian](/source/Mingrelian_language). He often travelled to [Tbilisi](/source/Tbilisi) to work at the newly established [Tbilisi State University](/source/Tbilisi_State_University), and at various museums and libraries. He declined an offer to work for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as his main goal was now the establishment of a museum in Samegrelo.

This museum opened on 1 May 1921 in the [Dadiani Palace](/source/Dadiani_Palace) in [Zugdidi](/source/Zugdidi). Objects from the other mansions of the Dadiani family, and of the private collection of Prince Achille Murat-Dadiani, were transferred to the newly created museum.

From 1937, Chanturia was persecuted by the [Soviet](/source/Soviet_Union) authorities. In 1940, he was dismissed from the museum he had created. He died in Zugdidi on May 11, 1949.

## References

- [Biography in Georgian](http://burusi.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/akaki-chanturia-2/)
- [Biography in Mingrelian](http://www.kolkhoba.org/margbiok1.htm)

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