From January 25-28, 2023, events celebrating the First Republic of Georgia took place in France, initiated by the Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) in partnership with the National Library of the Parliament of Georgia and the Embassy of Georgia in France.
During the "Days of the First Republic of Georgia," a presentation of the memorial album of Akaki Tchkhenkeli, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador of Georgia to France, was held at the Paris High School of Social Sciences (EHESS).
The album was a joint effort of IDFI, the National Library of the Parliament of Georgia and Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University. Descendants of First Republic of Georgia emigrants residing in France attended the event.
The Embassy of Georgia in France hosted meetings where Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador Gocha Javakhishvili held a reception and showed his commitment to future cooperation.
On January 27, a meeting took place at INALCO between the director of the Center for Language and Civilizations University Libraries, Marie Liz Tsaguria, and deputy director Benjamin Guishard to discuss expanding the Georgian corner in INALCO in the future. Anton Vacharadze, head of IDFI's memory and disinformation research department, presented the memorial albums of First Republic of Georgia figures to the library.
On January 28, an external meeting was held in Leuville where the delegation participated in an official event at the Leuville City Hall and met with the Mayor. Afterwards, they toured Leuville's chateau, manor, and the cemetery of Leuville's Georgian ancestors.
The event was supported by the Embassy of Georgia in France and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).