Architect Irakli Tsitsishvili was born im Tbilisi, 1918. In 1941 he graduated from the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Georgian Industrial Institute, where he specialized in architecture. During the battle for Dniepr (WW II, 1943) he constructed 360-meter long pontoon bridge in four days despite uninterrupted hostile artillery and air strike. I.
Tsitsishvili was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union in 1943. After the war Irakli Tsitsishvili served as a member (1945), and later, as head (1946) of Georgian Polytechnic Institute’s Architectural Department. In 1959 he got degree of Doctor of Sciences in Art history, and in 1960 – title of Professor. In 1978 he became Head of the Principle Scientific-Production Department for the preservation and utilization of monuments of culture and nature.
He studied many monuments of Georgian architecture, and published numerous works on the subject, including 25 books: Origins of Georgian Architecture, Ujarma. Tbilisi -Architectural Monuments, Protection of Monuments of Georgian Culture, History of Georgian Art, Georgian Architectual Monuments, etc.