born in the village of likhauri in the western georgian province of guria (then part of kutais governorate, russian empire) to a local nobleman svimon takaishvili, he graduated from st. petersburg university in 1887. from 1887 to 1917, he lectured on the history of georgia at various prestigious schools in tbilisi, including the tbilisi gymnasium for nobility. during these years, he was actively involved in extensive scholarly activities and chaired, from 1907 to 1921, the society of history and ethnography of georgia. between 1907 and 1910, he organized a series of archaeological expeditions to the historic georgian region of tao-klarjeti (now part of turkey).