TO AVTANDIL

 

Leiden, 7 May 2024

Dear Avtandil,

We are gathered here today to celebrate together this great milestone that marks the culmination, and end, of a journey that began five years ago but which, nevertheless, traces its roots to deep and bold decisions that preceded your tenure here in Leiden. I recall the stories of your father's dreams, of the ambitions he had for you, to see you either as a celebrated footballer, like Kaladze, or as a distinguished intellectual.

It is challenging to find the words to describe the person you have become and the immense pride we all felt today, as you approached the candidate’s seat in the Groot Auditorium of Leiden to defend your views to achieve such a, esteemed title. Title, which is more prestigious, because renown is our shared alma mater, a place where we found a home, away from our home. A crossroads of brilliant minds, like yours, but also of generous hearts, like yours, full of selflessness and benevolence. 

Much time has passed since the autumn of 2017, yet everyone present here vividly remembers your resolute determination to embark on the demanding path of academia.

Your unwavering passion for knowledge and philosophical inquiry, never trivial, aimed at analysing the philosophical boundaries, societal impacts, and legal dilemmas posed by the pervasive and frequently uncontrolled phenomena that the advent of new technologies, often in the hands of oligarchic corporations have brought.

And that determination, at times - I hope you will allow me - bordering to obsession, has led you to this moment, today, in the presence of those who cherish you, reminding us all of the extraordinary person you are, ever eager to discover and, perhaps one day, define new frontiers.

As you have now emerged as a luminary of law, as highlighted by Professor Dechesne during today’s award ceremony, you – and this epithet - reminded me of Irnerius, the founder of the School of Glossators, the precursor of the University of Bologna. Irnerius was known as the “lucerna iuris” because he was the first to shed light on the complexity of something never seen before in the western world, the Corpus Juris Civilis of the emperor Justinian. 

May you be able to shed light and lead through the complexities that scholars, regulators, and courts will face in the new world ahead.

Your PhD from an institution as venerable as ours, focusing on subjects that delve into profound aspects of human action and life such as philosophy and the sociology of law, speaks volumes of your profound love not only for knowledge, but for humanity itself.  

Few are aware of the challenges you faced and the sacrifices you made to successfully pursue these studies. We have witnessed your journey, respected your periods of solitude necessary for the gestation of what is not merely a book, but the evolution of a man, a scholar, and, as someone who surely has more title than I have said earlier today: a mature thinker.

Today, we stand as witnesses to your efforts, your perseverance, your optimism, and the support you received from Agata, your mentors, your closest friends, and your family during the most challenging times. These were not in vain. 

We stand here today proud to be your friends.

You are an example to us all. 

May the knowledge and tenacity acquired during this journey be a primary source to refine the means that, as you repeatedly said during the defence of your thesis, may inspire the legislators to come to terms with the realities of our world.

Do not forget that the farsightedness of the jurist will be all the more effective, the more successful he will be able to narrow the gap between the manifestation of phenomena and their regulation, assuming the Marxian teaching that legal institutions always follow economic and social ones, and not vice versa. 

The world needs intellectuals like you—individuals driven not merely by profit but by conscience, not by a thirst for power but by a love for knowledge. Only those who have the courage to persist to doubt their own positions, what they see, what they read, what they hear, through rigorous study and the pursuit of truth, can truly claim to be free – in thought, thus, in being. 

As Socrates stated, it is better to change an opinion, than to persist in a wrong idea.

What has been said of you today - your capacity to receive criticism to make it constructive and refine your discourse - is a symptomatic of the intellectual humility that even as a mature thinker you must never abandon.

I envy you my friend, and, on a personal note, regret that I could not have more time to spend together and develop our friendship further. A sentiment, I reckon, many here likely share, but respect. Nonetheless, I am immensely grateful for the meaningful time we spent together, during these past years.

I hope, and I am sure we all do, however, that this connection, this fantastic multicultural unicum of amazing people we have created here in Leiden, will endure, wherever our paths may lead us.

Whatever you will decide to do you will excel and succeed, because your ambition stems from a genuine feeling of participating - in the collective interest - in elevate the life of modern man, making it more dignified, more aware, more authentic, real, truthful.

May your dreams come true, and may you continue to shine; may you play a leading role in lighting the way in these uncertain times. 

Ad maiora, semper.