Alexander Abasheli
Encyclopedia
Alexander Abasheli was a penname of Isaac Chochia (ისააკ ჩოჩია) (August 15, 1884 – September 27, 1954), a Georgian
poet and prose writer.
Born into a peasant family near Abasha
, he was involved in the Russian Revolution of 1905
and was exiled to Solvychegodsk
in 1906. Returning to Georgia in 1908, he wrote for local press and had his first lyrics published first in Russian, and then in Georgian. He came under the influence of then-fashionable trends of Symbolism, with his first collection of lyrics "The Smile of the Sun" (მზის სიცილი; 1913) being impregnated with what has been described by critics as the "cult of the Sun".
An outright hostility towards the Soviet
regime established in Georgia in 1921 plunged his poetry into Decadence characterized with the sense of hopelessness, and disappointment in the revolutionary ideas of his youth. However, with the exacerbation of political repressions in the Soviet Union, Abasheli adopted more conformist line and gradually fully accommodated to the Soviet ideological dogmas to the point of collaborating with Grigol Abashidze in writing the original lyrics for the Anthem of the Georgian SSR which contained, among other things, a panegyric to Joseph Stalin
.
Abasheli is also remembered as an author of the first Georgian science fiction
novella "A Woman in the Mirror" (ქალი სარკეში; 1930). Several of his poems were translated into Russian by Boris Pasternak
.
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
poet and prose writer.
Born into a peasant family near Abasha
Abasha (town)
Abasha is a town in western Georgia with a population of 6,400 . It is situated between the rivers of Abasha and Noghela, at 23m above sea level and is located some to the west of Tbilisi. The settlement of Abasha acquired the status of a town in 1964 and currently functions as an administrative...
, he was involved in the Russian Revolution of 1905
Russian Revolution of 1905
The 1905 Russian Revolution was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. Some of it was directed against the government, while some was undirected. It included worker strikes, peasant unrest, and military mutinies...
and was exiled to Solvychegodsk
Solvychegodsk
Solvychegodsk is a town in the southern part of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located on the right-hand bank of the Vychegda River northeast of Kotlas. Administratively, it is a part of Kotlassky District. Municipally, it is incorporated as Solvychegodskoye Urban Settlement of Kotlassky Municipal...
in 1906. Returning to Georgia in 1908, he wrote for local press and had his first lyrics published first in Russian, and then in Georgian. He came under the influence of then-fashionable trends of Symbolism, with his first collection of lyrics "The Smile of the Sun" (მზის სიცილი; 1913) being impregnated with what has been described by critics as the "cult of the Sun".
An outright hostility towards the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
regime established in Georgia in 1921 plunged his poetry into Decadence characterized with the sense of hopelessness, and disappointment in the revolutionary ideas of his youth. However, with the exacerbation of political repressions in the Soviet Union, Abasheli adopted more conformist line and gradually fully accommodated to the Soviet ideological dogmas to the point of collaborating with Grigol Abashidze in writing the original lyrics for the Anthem of the Georgian SSR which contained, among other things, a panegyric to Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
.
Abasheli is also remembered as an author of the first Georgian science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novella "A Woman in the Mirror" (ქალი სარკეში; 1930). Several of his poems were translated into Russian by Boris Pasternak
Boris Pasternak
Boris Leonidovich Pasternak was a Russian language poet, novelist, and literary translator. In his native Russia, Pasternak's anthology My Sister Life, is one of the most influential collections ever published in the Russian language...
.