\u201cGeorgian Wolves\u201d: Unique Book on Caucasian Aristocracy Presented in London<\/strong><\/p>\n

London, England, United Kingdom, April 20, 2026
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\n<\/em>The research of Ukrainian scholar Oleksandr Muzychko offers a new perspective on the history of Georgia \u2014 through the lens of the aristocratic Tsitsishvili\u2013Nareklishvili family. One of its descendants is a well-known Ukrainian philanthropist<\/em><\/p>\n

A presentation of the book The Georgian Wolves: The History of the Petrovskyi Family<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n

The event was held on April 18 at the conference hall of the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park with the participation of the author \u2014 Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor at Odesa I. I. Mechnykov National University (Ukraine) Oleksandr Muzychko \u2014 as well as the renowned British Kartvelologist, Professor at Queen Mary University of London Donald Rayfield, who wrote the foreword to the book.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\nParticipants of the presentation of the book The Georgian Wolves: The History of the Petrovskyi Family. London, 18 April 2026<\/em><\/p>\n

As Oleksandr Muzychko explained, The Georgian Wolves<\/em> is based on a genealogical study of the Georgian aristocratic Tsitsishvili\u2013Nareklishvili 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 \u2014 medieval states on the territory of present-day Georgia.<\/p>\n

In the mid-19th century, as a result of what Muzychko described as a true detective story \u2014 the killing of Prince Nestor Rusishvili in a duel and the \u201cblood revenge\u201d declared by his father \u2014 Prince Tevdore Tsitsishvili fled the family estate in Kvareli and settled in Zemo Kandaura. There, he changed his surname to \u201cNareklishvili,\u201d thus founding the Tsitsishvili\u2013Nareklishvili branch of the family, from which Tamaz Nareklishvili \u2014 the father of Ukrainian philanthropist Oleksandr Petrovskyi \u2014 descends.<\/p>\n

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Based on an extensive source base, the researchers were able not only to confirm the history of the Nareklishvili family\u2019s 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 \u2014 in particular, the so-called \u201cKakhetian Uprising,\u201d the War of Independence of Georgia in 1812\u20131813. The study succeeded in identifying twelve generations of the family by name.<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 a descendant of the Tsitsishvili\u2013Nareklishvili and Vovk families \u2014 played a key role in obtaining the Tomos of Autocephaly for the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in 2019.<\/p>\n

\nReport by Dr. Oleksandr Muzychko<\/em><\/p>\n

Professor Donald Rayfield gave high praise to Oleksandr Muzychko\u2019s work. \u201cOleksandr has done something I myself failed to do \u2014 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,\u201d the British scholar noted.<\/p>\n

\nProf. Donald Rayfield<\/em><\/p>\n

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Representatives of the Petrovskyi family were also present at the book presentation \u2014 Alina Vovk and Anzhelika Petrovska.<\/p>\n

Petrovska noted that she is proud of her family\u2019s 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\u2019s external strategy. \u201cWe should go beyond our borders and offer our allies new strategies in a rapidly changing world,\u201d Anzhelika Petrovska stressed in her speech.<\/p>\n

\nAlina Vovk and Anzhelika Petrovska<\/em><\/p>\n

\nAnzhelika Petrovska and Tim White
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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,\u201d added Alina Vovk, a representative of the Petrovskyi family.<\/p>\n

About the International Charitable Foundation of O. Petrovskyi \u201cSolidarity\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The International Charitable Foundation of O. Petrovskyi \u201cSolidarity\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

Media Contact<\/u><\/p>\n

Yana Ivanilova
\nVice President
\nInternational Charitable Foundation of O. Petrovskyi \u201cSolidarity\u201d
\nEmail: charitymbf@gmail.com<\/a>
\nPhone: +380671067734<\/p>\n

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\u201cGeorgian Wolves\u201d: 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 \u2014 through the lens of the aristocratic Tsitsishvili\u2013Nareklishvili family. One of its descendants is a well-known Ukrainian philanthropist A presentation of the […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7905,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n