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Jews in Georgia

Jews have been residing in Georgia since ancient times. In Late Antiquity, Mtskheta, the Iberian capital, was home to a significant Jewish community. Jews lived in Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Akhaltsikhe, Tskhinvali, and many other towns and cities during the Middle Ages. First synagogue was built in 1877. Following the conquest of Georgia by the Russian Empire, Ashkenazis, i.e. Jews of German-Polish origin, moved to Georgia. They built a synagogue of their own. Nowadays, the Museum of the History of the Jews of Georgia is housed within it. The great Georgian poem “The Knight in the Panther’s Skin” has been translated into many languages. The Georgian Jew Gaponov translated it into Hebrew. In 1969, Gaponov’s translation of the poem featuring Tavakarashvili’s miniatures was published in Jerusalem. Shalom Koboshvili and David Gvelesiani were the most prominent Jewish artists in Georgia. Music by Enrico Macias & Charles Aznavour - Hava Naguila