1921-2013. Was an iconic Georgian writer. Born in Tbilisi in a noble family, Chabua Amirejibi’s parents and close relatives became victims of Stalin’s terror in 1937. As a student he himself narrowly escaped being shot in connection with allegations of a planned coup that was intended to achieve Georgia’s secession from the Soviet Union. In April 1944, he was arrested on and sentenced to twenty-five years in the Gulag in Siberia. In fact he returned to Georgia in 1960 after 16 years in detention, three prison escapes, and two death sentences. In homeland he began his literary career in his late 30s and quickly attracted attention with his first volumes of stories, including The Road 1962, My Ragger Uncle 1963, The Bull’s Confession 1964. In 1973 was first published Amirejibi's most famous novel and one of the best works in modern Georgian literature, Data Tutashkhia, gaining  sensational success and fame for the writer.  Conceived while in Amirejibi’s years in prison, it was only through the intervention of the contemporary Georgian Communist Party chief Eduard Shevardnadze that this substantial novel of over 700 pages, passed the Soviet censors and got published.  Later it was turned into a highly popular film. Data Tutashkhia has appeared in English, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Bulgarian, Romanian, Czech and almost in every language of the former Soviet Union, and, most recently, in French (L’Age d’Homme 2012). Amirejibi supported Georgia’s declaration of independence in 1991 and was elected to parliament in 1992. However, the tragic years of civil war and the death of his eldest son Irakli in the War in Abkhazia precipitated a major personal crisis .Therefore, It came as a surprise when his novel Gora Mborgali was published in 1995. The book is based on the author’s experiences in the Gulag. His most recent work, George the Brilliant, a historical novel about this 14th-century Georgian king, appeared in 2005. Amirejibi has won many prizes; In 2009 he won the Literary Award SABA for his contribution to Georgian literature. On November 16, 2010, he was consecrated as a Georgian Orthodox monk under the name of David. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY
         

• Data Tutashkhia, Merani Publishing, 1973, Chabua Publishing, 2012
• Before The Last, Publishing Sakartvelos Matsne, 2010 
• The Beginning, Publishing House, Erovnuli Mtserloba, 2008
• From The Thoughts, Chabua Publishing, 2007
• George the Brilliant, Bakmi Publishing House, 2003
• Gora Mborgali, 1995,  Chabua Publishing, 2002 
• Complete Collection of Prose in 7 Volumes, Neostudio Publishing, 2001 
• The Honey Drop, Publishing House Nakaduli, 1968
• Giorgi Burduli, 1965
• The Bull’s Confession, 1964
• My Ragger Uncle, Publishing House Nakaduli, 1963
• The Road, Sov. Writer Publishing, 1962

LITERARY PRIZES AND AWARDS

• Honorary award SABA 2009 for the Contribution to the Georgian Literature
• The State Prize of Georgia 1998 
• Shota Rustaveli State Prize 1994

 

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