Sovlab’s mission is to promote the study of the Soviet totalitarian past, enhance the understanding of its legacy, and create a space for free thought and discussion.
We recognize that Russia's long-term information warfare in Georgia seeks to exploit the country's Soviet past to undermine its European aspirations. Therefore, the organization actively promotes the development of a memory culture in Georgia and encourages the participation of various groups in researching, studying, and understanding recent history.
Sovlab’s objectives are:
- Understanding recent history to increase society's moral responsibility towards the memory of the victims of totalitarian regimes.
- Combating the instrumentalization of memory to fight disinformation.
- Promoting the role and importance of the individual in historical processes, and integrating their experiences into the collective memory of society.
- Encouraging public involvement in studying recent history or promoting it to enhance civic self-awareness.
- Fostering the development of memory culture and the memorialization of significant sites.
In its activities, the organization is guided by the following principles:
- Full observance of research ethics principles.
- Maintaining high-quality standards.
- Openness and accountability.
- Networking and cooperation with interested parties.
- Attracting and involving volunteers in research.
- Encouraging and promoting research activities.
The Soviet Past Research Laboratory (Sovlab) is a leading Georgian think tank dedicated to researching Georgia's Soviet totalitarian past and countering the weaponization of memory by Russian disinformation.
In 2009, during an international conference organized by DVV International and the Heinrich Böll Stiftung, an initiative group was formed with the aim of developing the topic of the topography of Stalinism, terror, and repression. The group began researching to create a documentary and educational route about Soviet terror and repression in Tbilisi. Subsequently, in March 2010, the Soviet Past Research Laboratory was established. The organization was founded by Lasha Bakradze, Davit Gogoshvili, Giorgi Kldiashvili, Nino Lezhava, Ana Margvelashvili, Giorgi Shaishmelashvili, and Davit Jishkariani. Since then, the board of Sovlab has undergone several changes.
From 2010 to the present, the organization has conducted project-by-project research on key issues in Georgia’s modern history that have been distorted by decades of Soviet propaganda. The topics Sovlab has addressed include the legacy of the Democratic Republic of Georgia and its democratic institutions, the Soviet invasion and occupation of Georgia, organized anti-communist resistance against the Soviet occupation, Soviet totalitarian terror, the post-Stalin era, and the late Soviet period leading to the restoration of independence.
Sovlab has published 19 books and numerous articles, and hosted conferences, talks, roundtable discussions, film screenings, and exhibitions. Additionally, it has digitized numerous archival and other audiovisual materials and made them accessible to the wider public.
In 2022, Sovlab joined the Information Integrity Coalition, an initiative of civil society organizations aimed at building resilience against disinformation and contributing to a stronger, more democratic Georgian society.
In 2021, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs designated Sovlab as the number one Georgian organization accused of “faking history” – a badge of honor and recognition of its work. In 2022, the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee endorsed Sovlab’s efforts, further highlighting the importance and credibility of its mission.
Barbare Aroshvili
Lisi Basilaia
Keti Chartolani
Othar Dalakishvili
Nini Gogiberidze
Nini Gvelukashvili
Giorgi Kandelaki
David Khvadagiani
Rusko Kobakhidze
Katie Kurtanidze
Anna Margvelashvili
Salome Odisharia
Badri Okudjava
Anna Shotadze
Ketevan Sikharulidze
Magda Tsotskhalashvili
Barbara Aroshvili graduated from the Faculty of Byzantine Philology in 2017. In 2019-2020, she worked as a style editor at Tabula. In 2019, she joined the Sovlab team in the same position. She is also a junior refresher at Sovlab and works on the Forbidden Memory series. Since 2024, she has held the position of an analyst at Ilia State University, working on the base of prosopography.
Lizi Basilaia joined the Sovlab team in October 2023. She works on the creation and development of Sovlab's educational courses and historical tours. Lizi is also involved in updating the Sovlab website. She graduated from Ilia State University in 2024. In 2022, she participated in the Erasmus+ exchange program at the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Spain. During her studies at Iliauni, she was a researcher at the university's Center for Constitutional Studies. She also collaborates with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation on creating a comic aimed at dispelling myths about European integration.
Keti Chartolani joined the Sovlab team in October 2023. Since then, she has been responsible for developing the organisation's various services, including educational courses and historical walking tours. In addition, Keti oversees the production of Sovlab's monthly newsletter, which highlights the Sovlab’'s main activities and achievements.
In 2022, Keti successfully defended her doctoral thesis entitled Georgian Soviet Science Fiction - How the Past Envisioned the Future Perfect at Tbilisi Free University. Throughout her career she has worked as a lecturer, editor and literary translator.
Nini Gogiberidze is a Project Manager at Sovlab. She is a legal professional with in-depth knowledge and understanding of justice sector reforms in Georgia. With over 15 years of hands-on experience, she has adeptly planned, coordinated, and managed various programs funded by both the United States and the European Union. In 2003, she graduated International Law Faculty of Tbilisi State University and later, in 2005, she obtained an MSc degree in Human Rights from the esteemed London School of Economics and Political Science. She is deeply involved in civil society affairs, serving as a board member for several non-governmental organizations committed to defending liberty, democracy, and human rights.
Nini Gvelukashvili was born in 2000. From 2018 to 2023, she studied at the Faculty of Management and Public Sciences of Tbilisi Free University and earned a Bachelor of Social Sciences. She is interested in researching Georgian Soviet collective traumas. She selected the trauma of March 9, 1956, and the de-Stalinization process as her research topic, analyzing it locally in the Georgian context based on the press on the one hand and oral histories on the other. In the future, she plans to connect her academic career with the study of the new and recent history of Georgia.
In November 2023, she joined the research team of the Research Laboratory of the Soviet Past. Currently, she is working on the project "Fact-based Countering of Soviet Nostalgia and Russian Historical Revisionism," funded by Ilia State University, within which she is researching the forgotten stories of the victims of the brutality of the Soviet regime.
Giorgi Kandelaki was a member of the Georgian Parliament from 2008 to 2020. He is now a project manager at the Soviet Past Research Laboratory (Sovlab).
During his time as a Member of Parliament, Mr. Kandelaki was actively involved in foreign affairs, in particular countering Russian policy towards Georgia on the world stage, first as Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and then as Deputy Chair of the European Integration Committee. Mr. Kandelaki was member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from 2008 to 2020 and of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly during the same period, serving as Chairman of the Georgian delegation in 2008-2012. He was also a member of the Georgian delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. In 2019, Kandelaki was member of the Parliamentary Working Group on disinformation and propaganda.
In addition to foreign policy, Kandelaki has been actively involved on issues of memory. In 2010, upon his initiative, the Georgian Parliament established 25th of February as the Day of Soviet Occupation of Georgia and 23rd of August, the day of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact signature, as the Day of Remembrance of Victims of Totalitarianism. In 2012, Kandelaki was involved in the project transforming the Stalin Museum in Gori into the Museum of Stalinism, halted after 2013. Kandelaki has been outspoken critic of ambivalence towards the soviet past and the emergence of Stalin statues across Georgia as well as an advocate of rethinking of the experience of the Democratic Republic of Georgia of 1918-1921 and including the issue of memory into the western counter disinformation agenda. He also initiated legislation to fully-open of soviet archives in 2018 – rejected by Georgian Dream. Kandelaki regularly publishes on present-day context of the soviet past and is often featured as speaker by Georgian and international media on those issues. Most recently he has been featured in a Netflix documentary series The Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War (2024).
In addition to foreign affairs, Mr Kandelaki was involved in liberalization of the Georgian airline market and authored the idea of transforming Kutaisi airport into a hub of budget airlines for which he received A Presidential Order of Excellence in 2013.
He was also a key part of an anti-corruption student campaign in 1999 and co-founded a democratic youth movement Kmara (Enough) which played an instrumental role in the Rose Revolution of 2003.
Giorgi Kandelaki studied at the Tbilisi State University, Duke University and University College London.
Davit Khvadagiani was born in 1985.
In 2003 he graduated from the 37th public school in Kutaisi.
In 2004-2005 he studied at David Agmashenebeli National Defense Academy of Georgia.
In 2005-2008 he studied at Akaki Tsereteli State University of Kutaisi.
In 2012-2014 he was a regional researcher-assistant of the Soviet Past Research Laboratory.
From 2015 he is a researcher at the Soviet Past Research Laboratory.
Dr. Kobakhidze holds a Ph.D. from Tbilisi State University in Classical, Byzantine, and Modern Greek Studies, complemented by a master's degree in Classical Philological Studies. In addition to her role at SovLab, she is an invited lecturer at Ilia State University and Caucasus University.
Her research spans diverse areas, including the history of the First Democratic Republic, the Soviet Union, Symbolism, and academic writing strategies.
At SovLab, Dr. Kobakhidze co-teaches the crash course, Foundation in Historical Research, and is gearing up to lead a historical walking tour starting this spring, showcasing culturally significant landmarks in Tbilisi.
Among her noteworthy works is the article, Georgian Red Church, delving into the intricate relations between the Soviet state and the Georgian and Russian Orthodox churches. This piece explores the emergence of "red churches" and their significance in the post-Soviet landscape, examining both religious and political perspectives. The article can be accessed here.
Recently, Dr. Kobakhidze also served as the editor for our new book authored by Lasha Bugadze, Georgia against Joseph Stalin, available for order here.
Kati joined the SovLab team in 2017, and since then, she has become an invaluable member of the organization. Her primary research interests lie in the photohistory of Georgia, focusing on images that capture the everyday life of individuals who lived under Soviet totalitarian rule.
At SovLab, Katie's main duties include overseeing the photo archive, digitalizing, categorizing, storing, and preserving invaluable historical visual materials from the 20th century. She also curates exhibitions aimed at showcasing the most unique findings of SovLab in the realm of historical photography. A notable example of this is the exhibition titled "Photographer from the Fourth Floor," which Ketevan curated in partnership with Guram Tsibakhashvili. This exhibition showcased never-before-seen images from 1930s Tbilisi and other regions of Georgia.
Ketevan is also actively engaged in the day-to-day operations of the organization. She manages the logistics of various off-site events and research excursions, ensuring smooth execution and coordination. Her expertise significantly contributes to the success of SovLab's projects and initiatives, especially when it comes to preserving and sharing Georgia's rich visual history.
Apart from her main responsibilities, Ketevan has also worked as a proofreader on a number of SovLab publications and is playing a vital role in making these works accessible to the broader public.
Anna Margvelashvili (1975) graduated from Ilya Chavchavadze Tbilisi Institute of Foreign Languages (1997), Tbilisi State University, Law Faculty (2003) specialization in Law, and did a Master’s Course in Law at Berlin Humboldt University with the degree of Master of Law (LLM).
In 1996-2000 she worked as an interpreter in the project Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit “The Development of the Private Sector of the Agriculture of Georgia”; in 2000-2003 she was working in a project of the same organization “Support to The Supreme Court of Georgia” as the project coordinator.
In 2005-2006 she was the assistant to the dean of Law Faculty at Tbilisi State University; in 2006-2010 she worked at the Center of Cultural Relations – The Caucasian House as a coordinator of the program on civil education and theme development in the regions of Georgia.
Since 2010 she has been the founder of Soviet Past Research Laboratory, member of board ინ 2010-2023. Currently - coordinator of the research direction of German-Georgian relationship.
since 2011 she has been the director of the Community Development Center.
Having joined SovLab during his internship course in 2018-2019, Badri then transitioned into a full member of our research team.
Badri's academic journey is connected with the field of political science, culminating in his Master's degree from Ilia State University in 2021.
His expertise spans key historical areas, including Soviet national policy, de-Stalinization, and socio-political processes during the late Soviet period.
Badri's recent work revolves around the portrayal of Joseph Stalin in post-de-Stalinization literature. Beyond his research contributions, Badri leads the historical tour on German settlers in Tbilisi — an engaging 1.5-hour exploration of Marjanishvili Street. This tour unravels the stories of German families who resided in Tbilisi for 122 years. It sheds light on their lasting impact, forced exile in 1941 due to Resolution no.744, and the rich history they left behind.
In 2017-2018, Anna studied at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA) at the Faculty of Journalism, and in 2018-2022 at the Ilia State University Faculty of Arts. She took courses in art history and theory, which she now uses to create visual content.
She worked in various projects as a content creator, blogger, exhibition curator, author of video-photo materials and social media manager.
He joined the Sovlab in 2023. She is responsible for creation of audio-visual content and monitoring of social media channels.
Magda Tsotskhalashvili was born in 1972.
She studied German Language at the Institute of Foreign Languages.
She worked at the Georgian Automobile Federation and at the publishing house "Siesta".
Since 2007 she has been working at the department of Graphic Design Services at the National Museum of Georgia.
Since 2017, she has been working as a Project Manager at the Soviet Past Research Laboratory.
Tbilisi, 0179 Vasil Barnovi Street #41.
E-mail: info.sovlab@gmail.com
Phone: +995 593 785901
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