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Mikheil Javakhishvili
Biography
Mikheil Javakhishvili was born in 1880 in Tserakvi. His grandfather’s name was Javakhishvili but, as he killed a man, his father took the name Adamashvili but Mikheil Javakhishvili later reverted to his grandfather’s name. He studied horticulture and agriculture in Yalta but had to give up when his mother and sister were murdered by burglars and his father died soon afterwards. Back in Georgia, he wrote his first stories. However, he also wrote articles critical of the Tsarist regime and had to leave to live in France, where he studied art and political economy. After extensive travels, he returned home but was arrested and exiled. He returned in 1917 and resumed his writing career but, as he was opposed to the Soviets, he was again arrested. He was sentenced to death but this was reduced to six months imprisonment, thanks to the intervention of the Writers’ Union. His relationship with the Soviet authorities continued to be difficult for the rest of his life. Finally he was arrested, tortured and shot in 1937. His writings were not rehabilitated till the 1950s.
Other links
Mikheil Javakhishvili
Mikheil Javakhishvilii’s Neorealism as an Alternative to Modernism