“Georgian Wolves”: Unique Book on Caucasian Aristocracy Presented in London

London, England, United Kingdom, April 20, 2026

The research of Ukrainian scholar Oleksandr Muzychko offers a new perspective on the history of Georgia — through the lens of the aristocratic Tsitsishvili–Nareklishvili family. One of its descendants is a well-known Ukrainian philanthropist

A presentation of the book The Georgian Wolves: The History of the Petrovskyi Family by Ukrainian historian Oleksandr Muzychko took place in London. The work highlights little-known connections between the Georgian and Ukrainian national aristocracies, according to the event organizers.

The event was held on April 18 at the conference hall of the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park with the participation of the author — Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor at Odesa I. I. Mechnykov National University (Ukraine) Oleksandr Muzychko — as well as the renowned British Kartvelologist, Professor at Queen Mary University of London Donald Rayfield, who wrote the foreword to the book.

Among other guests were journalists, scholars, clergy, and cultural figures from Ukraine and the United Kingdom, including Hennadii Ivanushchenko, Director of the Archive of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists in London; Serhii Bondarchuk, Hero of Ukraine and General of the Security Service of Ukraine; Volodymyr Tsybulko, Secretary of the National Union of Writers of Ukraine; and British journalist Tim White.

Participants of the presentation of the book The Georgian Wolves: The History of the Petrovskyi Family. London, 18 April 2026

As Oleksandr Muzychko explained, The Georgian Wolves is based on a genealogical study of the Georgian aristocratic Tsitsishvili–Nareklishvili family, to which the well-known Ukrainian philanthropist Petrovskyi family belongs. The Tsitsishvili lineage has been known since the 13th century, with its representatives holding high positions at the courts of the kings of Kartli and Kakheti — medieval states on the territory of present-day Georgia.

In the mid-19th century, as a result of what Muzychko described as a true detective story — the killing of Prince Nestor Rusishvili in a duel and the “blood revenge” declared by his father — Prince Tevdore Tsitsishvili fled the family estate in Kvareli and settled in Zemo Kandaura. There, he changed his surname to “Nareklishvili,” thus founding the Tsitsishvili–Nareklishvili branch of the family, from which Tamaz Nareklishvili — the father of Ukrainian philanthropist Oleksandr Petrovskyi — descends.

Based on an extensive source base, the researchers were able not only to confirm the history of the Nareklishvili family’s emergence in Zemo Kandaura, but also to demonstrate that the direct ancestors of the Petrovskyi family were active participants in events that shaped the fate of Georgia — in particular, the so-called “Kakhetian Uprising,” the War of Independence of Georgia in 1812–1813. The study succeeded in identifying twelve generations of the family by name.

Thus, the book provides a unique cross-section of Georgian history through the story of one of the families that helped shape it. Equally important, as Dr. Oleksandr Muzychko noted, is the fact that in the 20th century the Nareklishvili family became connected with the Ukrainian Vovk family, which originates from the Cossack nobility. This family union gave impetus to Ukrainian-Georgian cooperation in the 21st century: the philanthropist Oleksandr Petrovskyi — a descendant of the Tsitsishvili–Nareklishvili and Vovk families — played a key role in obtaining the Tomos of Autocephaly for the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in 2019.

Report by Dr. Oleksandr Muzychko

Professor Donald Rayfield gave high praise to Oleksandr Muzychko’s work. “Oleksandr has done something I myself failed to do — going around churches and looking at the parish registers. A lot of Georgian history is actually buried in small churches, where births, deaths, and marriages are recorded. Sometimes the best thing a researcher can do is to walk around a cemetery and read what people have written on the stones,” the British scholar noted.

Prof. Donald Rayfield

Representatives of the Petrovskyi family were also present at the book presentation — Alina Vovk and Anzhelika Petrovska.

Petrovska noted that she is proud of her family’s history, in which Ukrainian, Georgian, Armenian, and Jewish roots are intertwined. This multinational background, she emphasized, allows the Petrovskyi family to take a broader view of Ukraine’s external strategy. “We should go beyond our borders and offer our allies new strategies in a rapidly changing world,” Anzhelika Petrovska stressed in her speech.

Alina Vovk and Anzhelika Petrovska

Anzhelika Petrovska and Tim White

“We want more works like this, so that people read them, draw inspiration, and try to avoid the misfortune that millions of people are currently experiencing,” added Alina Vovk, a representative of the Petrovskyi family.

About the International Charitable Foundation of O. Petrovskyi “Solidarity”

The International Charitable Foundation of O. Petrovskyi “Solidarity” is a Ukrainian charitable foundation founded in October 2003. The foundation carries out volunteer, philanthropic, and charitable initiatives, with a focus on social support for people in difficult life circumstances, including low-income families, elderly people, children with disabilities, orphans, and children from boarding schools and orphanages.

Media Contact

Yana Ivanilova
Vice President
International Charitable Foundation of O. Petrovskyi “Solidarity”
Email: charitymbf@gmail.com
Phone: +380671067734