Georgian Literati Women

Abstract

For many centuries, both in Georgia and around the world, the only arena for women’s fulfillment has been the family and has been limited to reproduction, child-rearing and family and kinship relations. At the same time, there are reports of women stepping out of this traditional female role and in some cases making significant contributions to society through their work and skills. After all, it is believed that our country experienced its best period during the reign of a woman, Queen Tamar. In order to increase the role of women in the public arena in society, to bring about changes in terms of gender equality, and to form a civil society, it is necessary to study more widely the role of women in Georgian culture, history, and sources. We are interested in the extent to which literary sources, Georgian manuscripts, have preserved traces of women’s work in non-family spheres, what these traces testify to: whether they realized their potential and talents in any way, or they had the opportunity to influence historical and social events, and in what form. It is manuscripts that have brought us information that Georgian women have been active patrons of the development of Georgian literacy, cultural and educational activities for centuries. We have female poets, scribe calligraphers, buyers (commissioners) of manuscripts, renovator-decorators, manuscript rescuers, patrons, bibliophiles-collectors. There were many hard times in the history of Georgia and many manuscripts were destroyed, so it was very important to reproduce, restore and protect the manuscripts. Interestingly and pleasantly, women were also actively involved in these activities. Information about scribe activities of Georgian women can be found in manuscripts, for example, there are more than a hundred scribes, the number of authors, of course, is much less, but all of them are outstanding. For example, Mariam-Makrina Bagrationi, whom Korneli Kekelidze still considers akin to the outstanding Byzantine hymnographer Kassia.