Dimitri Uznadze

Dimitri Uznadze (1886-1950) was a Georgian psychologist, philosopher and professor, and one of the founders of academic psychology in his country. Trained in idealist philosophy and in the experimental psychology of the early twentieth century, he is known above all for his theory of set, the readiness that shapes perception and action, which gave rise to a distinct school.

Born into a peasant family in the village of Sakara, in the Kutaisi province, he was expelled from high school for taking part in the 1905 revolution. That same year he moved to Germany and studied philosophy at Leipzig under Wilhelm Wundt. After earning a doctorate with a dissertation on Vladimir Solovyov, he returned to Kutaisi and taught. After the October Revolution he helped establish Tbilisi State University, where he led the psychology department from 1918 until his death. In 1941 he co-founded the Georgian Academy of Sciences and became the first director of its psychology institute.

His theory of set holds that a person meets each situation with a prior readiness that guides perception and behaviour. He presented this idea in works written in German, Russian and English, and it remains the core of his legacy. Georgia's psychology institute now bears his name.