Carol Rifelj Faculty Lecture Series: Rebecca Mitchell, History

‘Woe to Those Who Fail to Reckon with History’: The Brothers Karbelashvili and the Fate of Empire in the South Causasus, 1860-2024

In 1924, Fr. Vasili Karbelashvili penned a passionate letter to his former student, Joseph Stalin. His desperate bid to stave off Bolshevik violence failed: his family fell victim to Stalinist repression. Yet by 2011, Vasili and his four brothers were canonized by the Georgian Orthodox Church. This talk explores the Karbelashvili legacy, tracing how national and religious identities fused in Georgian self-consciousness, and reflects on how historical memory informs contemporary responses to Russian imperial hubris.