Vasil Barnovi (real surname: Barnaveli, ბარნაველი) (May 22, 1856 – November 4, 1934) was a Georgian

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...

 writer popular for his historical novel

Historical novel

According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is-Development:An early example of historical prose fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 14th century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history and left a lasting impact on Chinese culture.The...

s.

He was born into the family of a priest in the village of Koda in what is now Lower Kartli region, Georgia (then under Imperial Russia). He was educated at the seminaries of Tbilisi

Tbilisi

Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...

 and Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

. Returning to Georgia in 1882, he taught Georgian language

Georgian language

Georgian is the native language of the Georgians and the official language of Georgia, a country in the Caucasus.Georgian is the primary language of about 4 million people in Georgia itself, and of another 500,000 abroad...

 and literature in Senaki

Senaki

Senaki is a town in Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region, western Georgia. It is located at around .From 1935 to 1976 it was called Tskhakaya in honor of the Georgian Bolshevik revolutionary leader Mikhail Tskhakaya....

, Telavi

Telavi

Telavi is the main city and administrative center of Georgia's eastern province of Kakheti. Its population consists of some 21,800 inhabitants . The city is located on foot-hills of Tsiv-Gombori Range at 500-800 meters above the sea level....

, and Tbilisi. At the same time, he engaged in journalism, studied Georgian folklore, and authored autobiographical stories. He is best known, however, for his contributions to the development of modern Georgian historical prose. His novels – მიმქრალი შარავანდედი (The Faded Halo; 1913), ტრფობა წამებული (The Martyred Love; 1918), ისნის ცისკარი (The Dawn of Isani; 1928) and others – are really psychological novels in a historical setting, intertwining historical themes with folklore and fiction, and political in the measure in which they protest against the Russian rule. Barnovi’s works are characterized by the abstraction of historical episodes and idealization of medieval Georgian heroes.

He died in Tbilisi and was interred at the Mtatsminda Pantheon

Mtatsminda Pantheon

The Mtatsminda Pantheon of Writers and Public Figures is a necropolis in Tbilisi, Georgia, where some of the most prominent writers, artists, scholars, and national heroes of Georgia are buried. It is located in the churchyard around St. David’s Church "Mamadaviti" on the slope of Mount Mtatsminda...

 at Tbilisi.

External links

Selected novels by Vasil Barnovi. Georgian eBooks project, National Parliamentary Library of Georgia

National Parliamentary Library of Georgia

The National Parliamentary Library of Georgia is a governmental organization under the Parliament of Georgia. It is the main book depository of Georgia, as well as the most important cultural, educational, scientific, informational and methodological centre....

. Retrieved on March 29, 2007.