Niko Nikoladze

Who was Niko Nikoladze?

Niko Nikoladze was a notable Georgian writer, pro-Western enlightener, and public figure primarily known for his contributions to the development of Georgian liberal journalism and his involvement in various economic and social projects of that time.

He was born in the village of Didi Jikhaishi, Imereti, western Georgia into petite noble family of Nikoladze. After the graduation from Kutaisi Gymnasium, he enrolled the Faculty of Law at St Petersburg University in 1861. In the same year he was excluded from the university for taking part in student protests. After leaving St. Petersburg he went to study in Western Europe in 1864 and became the first Georgian to receive a doctorate from a European university, namely in Zurich. Like many other Georgian intellectuals of that time, he followed the evolution of Russian liberals to different versions of socialism, establishing his own contacts with the Western leftist thinkers. Nikoladze was the first Georgian figure within this trend to gain position of influence in all-Russian liberalist movements.