1860-1954
In 1880 Sophio Argutinskaia-Dolgorukova graduated from the Noble Women Institute and undertook a job of a teacher of Russian language in the then famous kindergarten of S. Babaiani. In 1882 she opened a children’s library which became one of the first cultural centers in which various events were conducted.
Sophio Argutinskaia-Dolgorukova left for Petersburg to obtain higher education and studied pre-school pedagogy there.
In 1886, Sophio Argutinskaia-Dolgorukova returned to Tbilisi and applied to the trustee of Caucasus educational district for a permit to open a boarding school and kindergarten. In 1905, she opened a free school for children of peasants in her own estate in the village of Sanai.
Sophio Argutinskaia-Dolgorukova was one of the founders of the Caucasus Froebel Society and a member of its board; she also spearheaded the opening of Froebel Society’s Higher Pedagogical Courses for Women which trained pre-school teachers not only for Georgia but also the entire region until 1921.
Sophio Argutinskaia-Dolgorukova was a kindergarten teacher which of an famous Armenian composer, Aram Khachaturian.
News: “Just recently, the city council of Tbilisi was approached by Sophio Argutinskaia-Dolgorukova who, as readers know perfectly well, runs a cheap library and a reading hall which, apart from various books, keeps Russian, Georgian and Armenian newspapers and magazines. This library was earlier designed for children and countess Argutinskaia, upon the consent of the government, transformed it into the library as it is at present. This library charged 20 kopeks for reading books and two kopeks for reading press per month. That’s why the majority of members of this library are poor and indigent people who are exempt from delivering collateral….. The owner of this library, who has no other aim in this business but to provide public good, applied to the city council with a request to give her one of shops owned by the council for the library and reading hall on the conditions that: 1) she will assume all costs, save the cost of station, for maintaining the library; 2) she will submit income statement to the council in due time and also a report on the identity and number of visitors of the book storage, indicating their vocations, age and nationality; 3) if the council would like so, the library will be called Popular City Library; 4) All Russian, Georgian and Armenian books in the amount of 7,000 units, except several ones, will become the property of the city after her death.
“It is clear that the city council will not find any better time and terms for the establishment of Popular Library. Hopefully, the new council will take countess Argutinskaia’s request into account.”
The newspaper Iveria. Issues #25.
1 February, 1891