Elene /Elo/ Metreveli

1917-2003 / academic

Elene was a researcher of the history of old Georgian writing, a scholar at the Georgian Academy of Sciences and an honorary doctor at Tubingen University in Germany; in 1966-88 she served as director of the K. Kekelidze Manuscript Institute of the Georgian Academy of Sciences and served as adviser to the institute's director from 1988 until her death in 2003.

She researched the history of manuscript collections, and authored many academic articles and groundbreaking works about the Georgian colonies in Jerusalem and the Mt Athos Monastery. She worked fruitfully with the Paris Institute of Byzantine History and Civilization and prepared at their request Georgian annotations to Greek acts.

Elene led the group of scholars from the Manuscript Institute that worked together with Leuven University on the publication of Georgian translations of the works of St Gregory of Nazianzus. She made a great contribution to the publication of descriptions of manuscripts. Her works were published not only in Georgia but also in famous academic centres of the world.