(1913, Essentuki – 2002, Tbilisi)
Art historian; Doctor of Architecture (1971); Merited Worker of Art of Georgia (1982). In 1936 she graduated from the Transcaucasian Industrial Institute with a specialization in architecture. From 1941 she worked at the Institute of Georgian Art History, and from 1986 she served as a senior research fellow at the Institute. R. Mepisashvili was closely involved in the preservation and restoration of cultural monuments. In the 1980s, she headed the Department of Monument Inspection at the Main Administration for the Protection of Historical, Cultural, and Natural Monuments of Georgia.
Her research focused primarily on medieval Georgian architecture, including monuments such as Vale, St. George of Eredvi and the “Monk’s Cell,” Mejudha’s Bieti, Kheiti’s “Sabatsminda,” Skhalta, and others. She published important monographs on the architecture of individual historical provinces and on Georgian art more broadly. Among her monographs, her comprehensive study of all medieval structures of Gelati Monastery stands out for its scope and its significance for church history.
She is also widely known for her collaborative research with V. Tsintsadze on the architecture of the mountainous part of Shida Kartli, as well as for their books published in Germany on early Georgian (primarily ecclesiastical) art and Georgian architecture. Under her supervision, a volume on the Bana Church was prepared, compiling the full body of contemporary knowledge regarding this architectural monument. R. Mepisashvili also carried out the precise scientific measurement of numerous architectural monuments.
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