Dimitri Arakishvili (February 11, 1873 – August 13, 1953) was a Georgian

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

 composer and ethnomusicologist

Ethnomusicology

Ethnomusicology is defined as "the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts."Coined by the musician Jaap Kunst from the Greek words ἔθνος ethnos and μουσική mousike , it is often considered the anthropology or ethnography of music...

 considered as one of the founding fathers of modern Georgian music. He was also known by his Russified name Dimitry Ignatyevich Arakchiev .

Born in Vladikavkaz

Vladikavkaz

-Notable structures:In Vladikavkaz, there is a guyed TV mast, tall, built in 1961, which has six crossbars with gangways in two levels running from the mast structure to the guys.-Twin towns/sister cities:...

 (now North Ossetia, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

), he graduated, in 1901, from the School of Music and Drama operated by Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

 Philharmonic Society where he was tutored by Alexander Grechaninov and Willem Kes

Willem Kes

Willem Kes , was a Dutch conductor and violinist.He was the first principal conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, holding that position from 1888 to 1895. He left the Concertgebouw Orchestra to take up a conducting post with the Scottish Orchestra in Glasgow...

. In addition he graduated from the Moscow Archaeological Institute in 1917. He helped found the Moscow People's Conservatory and offered free musical classes in Arbat Square

Arbat Square

Arbatskaya Square of Arbat Square is one of the oldest squares of Moscow, located on the junction of Gogolevsky Boulevard, Znamenka Street and Arbat Gates Square ....

 in 1906. From 1908 to 1912, was editor-in-chief of the journal Muzika i zhizn. One of his major interests was Georgian folk music and he traveled throughout Georgia collecting traditional music and over 500 folk songs from 1901 to 1908. When Georgia established an independent republic

Democratic Republic of Georgia

The Democratic Republic of Georgia , 1918–1921, was the first modern establishment of a Republic of Georgia.The DRG was created after the collapse of the Russian Empire that began with the Russian Revolution of 1917...

 in 1918, Arakishvili moved to Tbilisi

Tbilisi

Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...

 and founded a conservatory which was merged with the Tbilisi State Conservatory

Tbilisi State Conservatory

Tbilisi State Conservatoire is the State Conservatoire of Georgia, located in the capital Tbilisi.-History:The Tbilisi Conservatoire was founded on 1 May 1917. It was formally recognised by the Russian Musical Society as a conservatoire later that year. A rival conservatoire was also founded in...

 in 1923. He taught and composed, and directed the Conservatory from 1926 to 1929. He was actively involved in collecting and popularizing Georgian folk songs and published books on Georgian folk music. Since 1932, he chaired the Union of Georgian Composers. In 1950, he was awarded the Stalin Prize.