Ilya Chavchavadze: interesting facts about biography

Chavchavadze Ilya Grigorievich is a Georgian publicist, poet, prince, fighter for sovereignty and national independence. In 1987 he was canonized by the Orthodox Church. At the same time he was called Holy Ilya the Just. In the early 20th century, Chavchavadze was considered the most famous national figure in Georgia. In this article, his brief biography will be presented. So, let's get started.

Ilya Chavchavadze: political activity

The hero of this article received a law degree at the St. Petersburg University. But due to the "student history" of 1861, the young man had to leave the school.

In early 1864, Ilya Chavchavadze was promoted to assistant governor-general and went on a business trip to Kutaisi province. The prince was to determine the relations of the peasants and landlords.

The next four years, Chavchavadze acted as a peace mediator in the Tiflis province. He also worked as a judge in this district until 1874. In addition, Ilya headed the society for the spread of literacy among the population of Georgia. In 1906, the poet was elected a member of the State Council from the nobility. Throughout his political activities he fought for the autonomy of Georgia. In this connection, the members of the RSDLP, as well as the authorities of the Russian Empire, acted against the prince.

Murder

In late August 1907, Ilya Chavchavadze, whose work will be described below, traveled with his wife Olga. The couple was riding in an open carriage from Tbilisi to Saguramo. Near the Tsitsamuri they were stopped by Gigla Berbichashvili's gang (Imeretin, Ivan Inashvili, Pavle Aptsiauri, Georgy Khizanishvili). Each member of the criminal group had weapons. Chavchavadze appealed to the gang: "Do not shoot, I'm Ilya." Gigla replied: "That's why we have to open fire." Then came the sound of a shot.

Vakhtang Giruli in his book brought the opinion of one of the greatest doctors of the time by the name of Iashvili. The latter, although not a pathologist or forensic expert, criticized the findings of the official autopsy report. According to Iashvili, the shot was fired not from the front, but from behind. That is, the fire was opened from the second ambush, which did not even know the gang of Berbichashvili.

Sentence

Most people believed that the murder of Chavchavadze was not fully disclosed. Members of the gang Berbichashvili justified the bad state of their own weapons and claimed at the trial that "it shot itself". They also denied the existence of the customer. The widow of the poet asked the court to save the life of the robbers and honor the memory of the spouse. But, according to the decision of the Stolypin tribunal, the entire gang (except for the hiding Imeretin) was executed.

Versions

Currently, some authors who are not familiar with the Georgian language and history, consider the murderers of the prince of the Bolsheviks (Russians). For example, according to Professor Anna Geifman, Ilya Chavchavadze headed nationalists fighting the Social Democrats. The latter was led by the Bolshevik Philip Makharadze. He was not satisfied with the criticism of their program by the prince. This greatly undermined the political positions of the Bolsheviks. Geifman believed that the main reason for the murder of Chavchavadze was his enormous popularity as a man and a writer. All this Anna also transferred to the political activities of Ilya Grigorievich, believing that he was leading the peasants away from radical socialism.

In fact, this was not true. If the professor knew the history of Georgia, she would not have made such erroneous conclusions. First, nationalists at that time called supporters of not Chavchavadze, but his opponent Nikoladze. Secondly, the Socialist Democrats did not then divide the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks. Thirdly, Ilya Grigoryevich's party was marginal and did not win elections.

There were other versions. For example, the Social Democrats considered the secret police to be the organizer of the murder. The motive was the anti-government position of the poet and his struggle to abolish the death penalty.

Creation

1857 - this is the year when Ilya Chavchavadze began to publish his works. Poet poetry appeared in various publications: the newspaper "Droeba", the magazine "Tsiskari", founded by him "Sakartvelos Moambe", etc. And here are the most famous poems of the prince: "Mother and Son", "The Hermit", "Dmitry Sacrificial", "Ghost", "The Episode of the Life of Thieves". Also Chavchavadze wrote such novels as "The Hangman", "Christmas Story", "Strange History", "Letters from the Roadman", "The Story of the Beggar", "Katsia-Adamiiani", etc.

During the lifetime of Ilya Grigorievich, several of his poems were translated into Russian. As for the poems, the Russian readers could only read the "Hermit". By the way, all lifetime poems Chavchavadze, translated into Russian, were collected in a separate collection. Excerpts from it were published in the "Herald of Europe", "Picturesque Review", etc.

Translations

Ilya Chavchavadze translated into his native language Goethe, Schiller, Heine, Turgenev, Lermontov and Pushkin. He also dealt with this in collaboration with other authors. For example, together with Ivan Machabeli, he transferred to the Georgian "King Lear".

Public Defender

Ilya Chavchavadze was an internationalist. He defended the discriminated Armenian population of Georgia for many years. Sometimes he had to take risks for his own life. But the poet regarded Georgians as a single proletarian nation, and princes as a revolutionary vanguard. Despite the fact that Chavchavadze headed the Tbilisi Land Bank, he also referred to the proletarians, singing them in his own work. Ilya Grigorievich also fought against the Armenian, Ossetian, Russian, Turkish, etc. Bourgeoisie. In 1902, in Russian translation, his article "Blatant Stones and Armenian Scientists" appeared. She made a lot of noise. In this regard, not only the Armenian bourgeoisie, but also the left-wing Social Democrats, opposed the hero of this article.

Stalin about the poet

In 1895-1896, Ilya Chavchavadze, whose biography is presented above, headed the journal Iveria. There he published seven poems by the poet Soso. Young Stalin wrote under this pseudonym when he studied at a theological seminary. Creativity Chavchavadze had a great influence on the future head of the USSR. Stalin, with certain reservations, also considered his people as a single proletarian nation. And his thesis about the intensification of the class struggle with the advent of communism and socialism extended to all but Georgians. In giving an interview to film director Mikhail Chaurelia, Iosif Vissarionovich called Chavchavadze one of the most important writers at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Memory

• In the USSR, the name of the hero of this article was Batumi State Drama Theater.
• The image of Ilya Grigorievich is placed on 20 lari (Georgian bill).
• In 1958, the post issued a stamp dedicated to Chavchavadze.
• The name of the poet was awarded to the University of Culture and Western European Languages.
• Memorial museums of the publicist were opened in the village of Kvareli (1937), in the estate of Ilya Grigorievich called Saguramo (1951) and Tbilisi (1957).