Tamaz (Thomas) V. Gamkrelidze (born October 23, 1929) is a distinguished Georgian linguist, orientalist and public benefactor, Academician (since 1974) and President (since February, 2005) of the Georgian Academy of Sciences (GAS), Director of the Tsereteli Institute of Oriental Studies of GAS (since 1973), Dr.Sci. (1963), Professor (1964).

Gamkrelidze was born in Kutaisi. His brother Revaz Gamkrelidze is also Academician, a famous mathematician.

Tamaz Gamkrelidze graduated from the Faculty of Oriental Studies of the Tbilisi State University (TSU) in 1952. Since 1964 Gamkrelidze is a Professor of this University, since 1966 - Head of the Chair of Structural and Applied Linguistics. He is author of outstanding works (among them many monographs) in the fields of Indoeuropean linguistics, Ancient languages , Theoretical linguistics, Structural and Applied Linguistics and Kartvelology .

In 1988-1995 he edited the Journal of the Russian Academy of Science "Voprosi Yazikoznanya". He is a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences , Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy, Fellow of the European Society of Linguistics (in 1986-1988 President of this Society), Corresponding Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences , Academician of the Russian Academy of Science, Doctor honoris causa of the Bonn University (Germany) and the University of Chicago (USA), Honorary Member of the American Society of Linguistics , etc. He received a Lenin Prize (1988), Humboldt International Prize (1989) and Ivane Javakhishvili Prize of the Georgian Academy of Sciences (1992). In 1992-2005 Gamkrelidze was a member of the Parliament of Georgia.

Some of main works of Tamaz Gamkrelidze

• The Akkado-Hittite syllabary and the problem of the origin of the Hittite script.- "Archiv Orientalni", vol. 29, 1960
• Anatolian languages and the problem of Indo-European migration to Asia Minor.- "Studies in General and Oriental Linguistics", Tokyo, 1970
• Alphabetic writing and the old Georgian script, Caravan Books, New York, 1994
• Indo-european language and Indoeuropeans, vol. I-II, Berlin - New York, 1994-1995 (with V.Vs. Ivanov)

See also

• List of Georgians
• List of linguists
• Georgian Academy of Sciences

External links

• Home Page of Tamaz Gamkrelidze
• Georgian Academy of Sciences (GAS)
• Tbilisi State University