Latin Diplomas and Academic Documents - Translated for Recognition in Georgia and Abroad

Which universities still issue Latin diplomas

More than most graduates expect. In the United States, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Penn, Dartmouth and a number of Catholic and liberal arts colleges issue diplomas in Latin; in the Netherlands, Leiden, Utrecht, Groningen, Amsterdam and others issue Latin diplomas or Latin-Dutch bilingual ones; Belgian universities did so for older degrees; Swedish, Finnish and Danish universities for older and some current ceremonial degrees; Coimbra and other Portuguese universities; Semmelweis, Debrecen, Pécs and Szeged in Hungary for medical, dental and pharmacy degrees, which is the largest single source of Latin diplomas we see, given the number of foreign graduates; Polish universities for doctoral and habilitation diplomas; Vilnius, Tartu and Charles University for certain degrees; and the pontifical universities in Rome for all degrees. Graduates of these institutions working in Georgia, seeking recognition, applying to Georgian graduate programs or licensing with Georgian professional bodies need the Latin read.

What the Latin says, and what the recognition center needs

A Latin diploma names the university (Universitas Harvardiana, Academia Lugduno-Batava, Universitas Scientiarum Medicinae Semmelweis), the faculty, the graduate, the degree in its Latin form (Artium Baccalaureus, Medicinae Universae Doctor, Philosophiae Doctor, Iuris Utriusque Doctor), the honors (cum laude, magna cum laude, summa cum laude, or the Dutch cum laude system), the date in Roman or Latin form, and the signatories with their Latin titles. The National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement, a Georgian employer or a licensing board needs all of this in Georgian plus an explanation of what the degree is in the issuing country's system - that a Dutch Latin diploma of a few decades ago corresponds to today's master's, that a Hungarian Medicinae Universae Doctor is the basic medical degree and not a doctorate in the research sense, that an American Artium Baccalaureus is a bachelor's degree. We translate the diploma in full, add a translator's note with the standard English and Georgian equivalents and the university's own English rendering where it exists, and translate the accompanying transcript, usually in English, so the packet is coherent. The apostille is obtained in the issuing country, and we notarize the translation here.

Medical, dental and pharmacy degrees in Latin: Hungary and beyond

Hungarian medical universities train large numbers of foreign students, including Georgians, in English-language programs, and issue their diplomas in Hungarian and Latin. A Georgian graduate returning from Semmelweis, Debrecen, Pécs or Szeged to practice in Georgia needs the diploma, the Latin degree formula, the Hungarian oklevél and the transcript translated for the recognition center and the professional licensing procedure, together with proof of clinical training. Our medical translators and Latinists work together on these: the physician handles the clinical and curricular content, the philologist the Latin formulas and titles, and the note explains the Hungarian six-year medical degree and its Latin title in Georgian terms. The same applies to older Dutch, Belgian and Scandinavian medical degrees and to pharmacy degrees titled in Latin.

Honorary doctorates, academic honors and ceremonial documents

Honorary doctorates (doctor honoris causa) are almost always conferred in Latin, and Georgian scholars, statesmen and artists who receive them from foreign universities, and foreign dignitaries honored by Georgian universities, need the diploma translated for publication, for archives and occasionally for official biographies. We translate honorary diplomas, laudationes and citations, academic ceremonial documents, medals and seals, and the Latin of university statutes and charters where a Georgian university is drafting or revising its own ceremonial. We also compose Latin diploma texts and honorary citations for Georgian universities that wish to confer degrees in the traditional form, checked by a second philologist before printing.

Latinum, classical studies and pontifical degrees

Georgian students of classics, theology, history, law and medicine at European universities present Latin proficiency certificates - the German Latinum and Graecum, Austrian and Swiss equivalents, university Latin examinations - which are translated for Georgian universities admitting them to graduate programs or for employers. Graduates of pontifical universities and faculties in Rome, Louvain, Fribourg and elsewhere hold Latin diplomas in theology, canon law, philosophy and sacred scripture, which the Church in Georgia and Georgian universities need translated; the Holy See's degrees are legalized through the nunciature rather than apostilled. Georgian seminarians and religious studying abroad need Georgian academic records translated into Latin or Italian for pontifical admission, and we prepare these with the ecclesiastical formulas the Roman faculties expect.

Transcripts, supplements and how to order

Most Latin diplomas come with a transcript or diploma supplement in English or the local language, and the recognition center wants both translated as one packet with consistent terminology; we translate the transcript, map the courses and credits, and reconcile the Latin degree title with the supplement's description. To order, send clear photos of the diploma - the whole page, including seals and signatures, since Latin diplomas often carry text in the seal - and of the transcript, and tell us the purpose: recognition, employment, admission or licensing. We quote within 15 minutes, translate the same day, and notarize when you bring the apostilled original to Agmashenebeli 117. Graduates abroad courier the apostilled diploma or send it with a relative; we return the notarized translation by courier.

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