Ioane Petritsi

Ioane Petritsi
Monument of Ioane Petritsi in Tbilisi
Born	c. 11th century Chimchimi, Meskheti, Kingdom of Georgia
Died	12th century
Nationality	Georgian
Era	Medieval philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School	Neoplatonism
Main interests	Philosophy, literature, poetry, hymns, orthodoxy, translation, mysticism, asceticism, astrology
Influences Aristotle, Plato

Ioane Petritsi (Georgian: იოანე პეტრიწი) also referred as John Petritsi was a Georgian Neoplatonist philosopher of the 11th-12th century, active in the Byzantine Empire and Kingdom of Georgia, best known for his translations of Proclus, along with an extensive commentary. In later sources, he is also referred to as Ioane Chimchimeli (Georgian: იოანე ჭიმჭიმელი). The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy describes Petritsi as "the most significant Georgian medieval philosopher" and the "most widely read Georgian philosopher."

There is no reliable information on Petritsi's biography except for indirect indications in his own works and a few details provided by the 18th-century Georgian scholarship. He is reported to have been born into an aristocratic family from the province of Samtskhe, and educated at Constantinople under the tutelage of Michael Psellos and John Italus. After the fall of Italus, Ioane seems to have fled to the Georgian monastery of Petritsoni in Bulgaria, whence comes his epithet Petritsi. He translated many philosophical works, principally Neoplatonic, with the aim of reconciling the Classical ideas with the principal message of Christianity. His broad philosophic outlook brought him into collision with the Georgian patristic orthodoxy, until the king David IV of Georgia eventually established him at Gelati Academy. He translated Aristotle, Proclus, Nemesius, Ammonius Hermiae, components of the Bible, hagiography, and some other pieces. Of his few original works, an extensive commentary to Proclus and Neoplatonism is the most important. But he also composed ascetic and mystic poetry, and hymns.