Your line

Branches

No published genealogy of the Beridzes (ბერიძეები) exists, and the historical documents point to independent centres in different regions. So begin by working out which historical branch you belong to: Muslim Adjaran, Christian, Turkish, Meskhetian or Gurian. Find out the name of the oldest known village, the mosque or church, and the name the family uses for itself. Families with roots in Adjara (აჭარა) often carry bynames from the Ottoman period, such as Khabadzoghli (ხაბაძოღლი) or Koroghli (ქოროღლი). Those living in Erkota (ერკოტა) carry names such as Sosanienti (სოსანიენთი) or Zandarienti (ზანდარიენთი). These names are the only bridge that links your family's oral memory to written archival documents.

• Adjara
• Guria
• Meskheti
• Imereti

Muslim Adjara

If your line goes back to Muslim Adjara (აჭარა), do not look for baptism records in church books, because they do not exist. The metric-book finder lists no church at all for the Muslim villages of Batumi (ბათუმი), Khulo (ხულო), Keda (ქედა), Kobuleti (ქობულეთი), Shuakhevi (შუახევი) and Khelvachauri (ხელვაჩაური). For the history of the 20th century, the decisive documents are the household books (საკომლო წიგნები) of 1935–2005, kept in the Batumi archive. Every member of the family is recorded in them. After that, continue with the materials of the 1922 census, held in fond 178.

Adjara · Lists →

The Turkish line

If your line goes back to Turkey, do not search the archival documents for the surname Beridze (ბერიძე) itself. Search by the specific village and by the family byname, the lakap. In official records people appear under a Turkish surname. The village and the name used within the family are what will help you find the trail of your ancestors.

Adjara · -oğlu →

Costs

Research costs at the National Archives are set by Decree No. 506. Working in the researchers' reading room is free. Issuing a file costs 5 or 10 GEL. A genealogical certificate costs 100 GEL and is issued on the tenth working day. A thematic search costs from 26 to 50 GEL. Students, pensioners and holders of academic degrees receive a 50 percent discount. A private alternative is offered by a Georgian genealogy portal, where a surname history starts at 2,000 GEL. Beridze (ბერიძე) does not appear on its list of surnames already completed.

Bogvi

To show that the research method works, take the example of Bogvi (ბოგვი). Documents held in fond 254 of the Central Historical Archive name Glakha (გლახა) and Dato (დათო) Beridzeshvili (ბერიძეშვილები) as serfs of Major General Akhverdashvili (ახვერდაშვილი). The parish registers of 1820–1826 in fond 489 confirm that the wife of Svimon Beridzeshvili (სვიმონ ბერიძეშვილი) bore a son, Gabriel (გაბრიელი), whose godfather was Zurab Begiashvili (ზურაბ ბეგიაშვილი). The same registers record Marta (მართა), daughter of Levan Beridzisshvili (ლევან ბერიძისშვილი) of Borbalo (ბორბალო).

Bogvi →

Defters and DNA

For the Meskhetian and Gurian branches the most important tool is the finder for the Ottoman registers (defters), hosted in an online database of Ilia State University. It covers 15,202 persons and 684 settlements. Bear in mind that Georgian names are heavily altered in Ottoman transcription. For genetic research there is the FamilyTreeDNA Georgian DNA Project, which has 1,356 members. To start in this direction, a reader needs to contact its administrators directly: Irakli Akhvlediani (ირაკლი ახვლედიანი), Jemal Gogitidze (ჯემალ გოგიტიძე) and Kakhi Sakhltkhutsishvili (კახი სახლთხუციშვილი). A link to the website is not enough.

What we do not know · DNA →