Presentation of a book about St. Gregory Peradze in Paris
24 11 2025
On 8 November 2025, at the Church of St. Nino in Paris (Paroisse orthodoxe géorgienne Sainte-Nino de Paris), a presentation was held for the book “Saint Grigol Peradze. Life and Works”, written by David Kolbaia from the Eastern European Studies Department of the Faculty of Asian and African Cultures and Rev. Henryk Paprocki.
The publication was published at the end of June 2025 by the University of Warsaw Press, and His Magnificence, the Rector of the University of Warsaw, Prof. Alojzy Nowak, PhD, took honorary patronage over the publication of the book.
The event in Paris was hosted by Othar Zourabichvili, president of L’Association Géorgienne en France, founded in 1921, and Prof. Bernard Outtier, a distinguished Kartvelologist from the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) in Paris. The ceremony was also attended by Protoiereus Giorgios, representative of His Eminence Dimitrios, Metropolitan of France and Exarch of Europe. During the meeting, David Kolbaia presented the publication and gave a lecture on the life and work of St. Gregory Peradze. The ceremony was accompanied by a concert by the band ‘Harmonie Géorgienne’, founded and led by Nana Peradze.
St. Gregory Peradze was born in 1899 in Bakurciche (Georgia). He studied theology and Oriental languages (Hebrew, Syrian, Arabic, Coptic, Armenian, and Greek) at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Berlin. During this time, he also mastered Latin, German, English, and French. He also knew Russian, Old Church Slavonic, Polish, and Georgian. He obtained his doctorate in 1926 at the University of Bonn. In 1931, Peradze took his religious vows at the Greek cathedral in Paris and was ordained a priest. In 1934, Fr. Peradze was awarded the title of archimandrite at the Greek Cathedral of St. Sophia in London. At the University of Warsaw, he lectured on patrology, teaching the history of ancient Christian literature, which he knew perfectly well. His former students spoke of his colossal knowledge of Christian literature. He quoted it in various languages, translating it into Polish at the same time. He died in 1942 in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, where he had been transported from Warsaw.
During research conducted by scientists from the University of Warsaw, important documents belonging to St. Gregory Peradze were discovered. This included the original of his doctoral diploma, passport, notes, and information from professors at the University of Berlin and the University of Bonn. All the collected materials were subjected to critical analysis, and the documentation was enriched with a selection of archival photographs. The result of this work is a classic, source-based monograph, supplemented with reliable scientific apparatus. The publication contributes significantly to the revival of Polish-Georgian and Christian-Jewish dialogue, while also playing an significant role in preserving and disseminating the memory of the victims of the German Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The visit in Paris on 7–11 November 2025, attended by Dr Davida Kolbaia, was co-financed by Action III.3.2 “Promotion of scientific research in the public domain” of the “Excellence Initiative – Research University” Programme.