1935 – 2008. A Georgian literary expert, critic, folklorist, Iranologist, translator, a doctor of philosophy and professor, graduated from Tbilisi State University in 1959. From 1965 to 1977 he was a lecturer in the University’s faculty of Oriental Studies, and from 1994 he was the scholar in charge of a team researching into folklore. He published his first poem in 1954, and his first translation in 1958. His fundamental scholarly works have been publications on Persian poetry, but he was responsible for many monographs on various genres of literature. His popular translations are also from Persian poetry: Omar Khayyam’s Rubayat, Jami’s Lyrics, etc. In addition, he published Georgian versions of German, Russian and Spanish literature. In the 1980s the Georgian public greatly admired the evenings of folk poetry which he arranged. He was president of the folklore association of the Georgian branch of UNESCO; he was a member of the Georgian academy of pedagogical science; he was chairman of the centre for the protection and revival of Georgian folk art; he was vice-president of the Georgian-Azerbaijani society; he was also the president of the Javari club of folklore experts. For his contribution to the development of Georgian literature he was awarded the Saba literary prize. He was also the recipient of French and Austrian literary awards. In 2007 an Iranian government commission singled him out as one of the six best translators from Farsi and awarded him a government certificate.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Honorary award SABA 2003 for the Contribution to the Georgian Literature
• The Prize of Austrian Culture and Art Ministry for translation of Rainer Maria Rilke’s series 1995
• Prize of Georgian-European Institute (Paris, France)

LITERARY PRIZES AND AWARDS 

• Folkloric Searching, Merani Publishing, 2006 
• I tell the Truth, Diogene, 2005
• East-Western Divan, Diogene Publishing, 2003

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