65 Russian Ethnographers and Caucasus MountaineersTsereteli applauded the work of Viceroy Vorontsov for his establish-
ment of the theatre in Georgia, which served as the “soil” for subse-
quent Georgian cultural development.^44
Vorontsov’s role was also heralded by the many officials long frus-
trated with the Caucasus War. One such official was Arnol’d
Zisserman, a young man initially inspired by the prose of Marlinsky
to seek a civil post in the bureaucracy in Tbilisi in 1842.^45 His subse-
quent service as district commander of the Tushetia-Pshav-Khevsuria
district and then as pristav (police officer) in the army in the Lezgin
Line brought him to the attention of Viceroy Vorontsov, who com-
mended him for his commitment to the study of local cultures and
traditions. “I hear, dear Zisserman,” Vorontsov greeted him in
Shemakha, “that you have managed in a short time to learn Tatar?
Well, thank you for not spending any time in vain ... Imagine, Boris
Gavrilovich [General Chilaev] ... among the Tushin he learned
Georgian, and here in only several months Tatar – remarkable talent.
If we had more of such young people, our administration would be
much better.”^46 Once in Tbilisi, Vorontsov requested of Zisserman an
interview in his travelling outfit. “Well, my dear Zisserman, have a
look at yourself; yes, a perfect Chechen,” Vorontsov greeted him.^47
Zisserman was an example of the kind of local adminstrator judged
by Vorontov and other officials to be crucial to the enlightened
administration of the region. In his memoirs Zisserman expressed
frustration with the general ignorance and disinterest among “the so-
called educated class” about affairs in the southern borderlands. One
such Russian, “like many others, imagined the Caucasus in the form
of one large castle surrounded by Cherkes, whom our soldiers shoot
at day after day.”^48 His extensive experience instead led him to con-
ceive of the task of colonization in broader terms, encompassing far
more than military matters and the winning of the Caucasus War. En-
lightened administrative, economic, educational, and judicial institu-
tions, staffed by capable administrators with an understanding of the
region and willing to discuss matters “openly” with the local popula-
tion, were necessary, Zisserman believed, if Russia was to justify its
colonial presence in the Caucasus.^49 Scholarship, Orientalist knowl-
edge, and a recognition of the diversity of the empire were important
aspects of Vorontsov’s vision.
a.p. berzhe, scholarly societies,
and antiquity
Orientalist scholarship flourished in the remade Tbilisi of Vorontsov.
Most important, the Imperial Russian Geographic Society opened a
Caucasus Department (Kavkazskii otdel) in 18 51, which regularly