Prof. Dr Erekle Pirveli: The scientist with extra kick
His biography is a bit like that of a child prodigy: top maths, school was a breeze, bachelor's degree in banking and financing in Georgia (of course also tops), the youngest to earn a doctorate in economics (at 24), full professorship at Caucasus University in Tbilisi at 29, 2020 Forbes “30 Under 30 in Science” in Georgia, Best Young Scientist of the Year in his country in 2021 – phew, what a brain. But beware, the man can do other things, too: European U23 contact karate champion, multiple Georgian champion and member of the national team. Whew. But what does Bremen have to do with all that? The university – it was Uni Bremen that gave his career a decisive boost.
When 31-year-old Erekle Pirveli talks about his still young career, it takes a while. After all, there is also a wife and child in this exciting life. As he speaks, it’s clear: this is a very likeable person. Someone who has always wanted a lot, from himself and from life, and who has not lost his sense of humour and ease.
Pirveli came to the University of Bremen at the age of 21 – to do his doctorate. “Bremen, that was definitely one of the best times in my life," he says. But the beginning was anything but easy: no experience abroad, not a word of German, all the other doctoral students years older and, on top of that, the completely new subject of accounting. But he received a lot of support at the university, namely from Professor Jochen Zimmermann, the highly agile Dean of the Faculty of Business Studies and Economics, who as a scientist and advisor also has a special relationship with Georgia, says Pirveli: "The last time we travelled to Tbilisi together, the border officials counted more than 60 entries in his passport over the last few years and then asked him if he was actually a German visiting Georgia, or the other way around."
A passion for accounting and finance is something Pirveli has in common with his doctoral supervisor. And thanks to that, he has skills that are particularly in demand now in Georgia, with its economy in transition. He works as a consultant for the Ministry of Finance, which is preparing new legislation. His expertise is sought after, and the first reforms are already being made in the area of corporate transparency. Georgia and its difficult and chequered history have become familiar to Germans through the moving epic novel "The Eighth Life" by Hamburg-based Nino Haratischwili, which Pirveli also enjoys reading.
Bremen or Tbilisi? "I prefer the capital of Georgia – but with fond memories of Bremen," says Pirveli, which anyone who knows the country and its wonderful people, even a little, can surely understand.
