Tavadi (Prince) Ilia Chavchavadze ( ka, ილია ჭავჭავაძე; 27 October 1837 – 12 September 1907) was a Georgian journalist, publisher, writer and poet who spearheaded the revival of

Georgian nationalism Georgian nationalism ( ka, ქართული ნაციონალიზმი, tr) is a nationalist ideology promoting Georgian national identity, the Georgian language and culture. Emergence Modern Georgian nationalism emerged in the ...

during the second half of the 19th century in the period of Tsarist rule. He has been called Georgia's "most universally revered hero" and the "Father of the Nation." He was a leader of contemporary youth intellectual movement named "Tergdaleulebi" which spread modern and European

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

ideals in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. Chavchavadze founded two modern newspapers: ''Sakartvelos Moambe'' and ''

Iveria Iveria may refer to: Places * Radisson Blu Iveria Hotel, Tbilisi, a hotel Georgia * Iveria, an archaic name for the country of Georgia Other uses * Iverian or Mingrelian language, spoken in Western Georgia * FC Iveria Khashuri, a Georgian footb ...

''. He coined the phrase "Ena, Mamuli, Sartsmunoeba" ("Language, Homeland, Faith"), a slogan of

. During the

1905 Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, th ...

Chavchavadze was elected as a representative of the

Georgian nobility Nobility Georgia Georgia Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional charac ...

to the imperial

State Council State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative authority of China, headed by the Premier * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of S ...

. Chavchavadze was killed in

Tsitsamuri Tsitsamuri ( ka, წიწამური) is a small village outside Mtskheta, Georgia (country), Georgia. It is known as the place where the nation's famous writer and poet, Ilia Chavchavadze, was assassinated in 1907. Near Tsitsamuri (identifie ...

, near

Mtskheta Mtskheta ( ka, მცხეთა} ) is a city in the Mkhare, region of Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Georgia (country), Georgia. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It is locat ...

, by a gang of assassins. In 1987 he was

canonized Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of sa ...

as Saint Ilia the Righteous (, ''tsminda ilia martali'') by the

Georgian Orthodox Church The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonl ...

Biography

Ancestry and early life

Chavchavadze was born in Qvareli, a village in

Kvareli Kvareli (, ) is a town in northeastern in Kakheti Province, Georgia. Located in the Alazani Valley, near the foothills of the Greater Caucasus Mountains, it was the birthplace of Georgian author Ilia Chavchavadze, whose one-storied house is pres ...

, located in the

Alazani The Alazani ( ) is a river that flows through the Caucasus. It is the main tributary of the Kura in eastern Georgia, and flows for . Part of its path forms the border between Georgia and Azerbaijan, before it meets the Kura at the Mingəçevir ...

Valley, in the

Kakheti Kakheti (; ) is a region of Georgia. Telavi is its administrative center. The region comprises eight administrative districts: Telavi, Gurjaani, Qvareli, Sagarejo, Dedoplistsqaro, Signagi, Lagodekhi and Akhmeta. Kakhetians speak the ...

province of Georgia, which was part of the Russian Empire at that time. His mother, Mariam, died on 4 May 1848, when he was ten years old, and his father asked his sister, Makrine, to help bring up the children. After 1852, when his father Grigol died she was the only remaining caretaker of the family. In 1848, after the death of his mother, he was sent to Tbilisi by his father to begin his secondary education.

Student years

After graduating from the academy, Chavchavadze attended University of St. Petersburg, Russia.

Political life

In the 1860s, "Tergdaleulebi", the new generation of Georgian intellectuals, educated at Russian universities and exposed to European ideas, promoted national culture against assimilation by the Imperial center. Led by Chavchavadze, their program attained more nationalist colors as the nobility declined and capitalism progressed, further stimulated by the rule of the Russian bureaucracy and economic and demographic dominance of the Armenian bourgeoisie in the capital city of

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

. Chavchavadze prominently founded "The Bank of the Nobility" of Tbilisi, to keep Georgian land from being sold off by poor Georgian nobles to Armenian bourgeoisie. In his work ''Outcrying Stones'', Chavchavadze said Armenians falsified Georgian history, buying up Georgian land and appropriating Georgian churches, as well as indebting poor Georgian peasant families. Chavchavadze said in his newspaper ''Iveria'' they were "eating the bread baked by someone else or drinking that which is created by another's sweat", and "sly moneylenders and unscrupulous traders". He also created slogan "Language, Homeland, Religion", which was a motto of Georgian nationalism. Chavchavadze and his associates called for the unity of all Georgians and put national interests above class and provincial divisions. They did not envisage an outright revolt for independence, demanding autonomy within the reformed Russian Empire, with greater cultural freedom, promotion of the Georgian language, and support for Georgian educational institutions and the

national church A national church is a Christian church associated with a specific ethnic group or nation state. The idea was notably discussed during the 19th century, during the emergence of modern nationalism. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in a draft discussing ...

, whose independence had been suppressed by the Russian government. Chavchavadze knew

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

when Stalin was an Orthodox

seminarian A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

in Tbilisi. According to historian

Simon Sebag Montefiore Simon Jonathan Sebag Montefiore ( ; born 27 June 1965) is a British historian, television presenter and author of history books and novels, including '' Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar'' (2003), '' Jerusalem: The Biography'' (2011), '' The Rom ...

: "The Prince was sufficiently impressed to show the teenager's work to his editors. He admired Stalin's verse, choosing five poems to publish – quite an achievement. Prince Chavchavadze called Stalin the 'young man with the burning eyes.'"

Death

After serving as a member of the Upper House in the first

Russian Duma The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 1993. The Duma headquarters are located in central Mos ...

, Ilia decided to return to Georgia in 1907. On 28 August 1907, while travelling with his wife Olga from

to Saguramo, Chavchavadze was ambushed and murdered by a crew of six assassins in the small village of

, near

. His murder was seen as a national tragedy and was mourned by all classes of Georgian society. Prince

Akaki Tsereteli Count Akaki Tsereteli ( ka, აკაკი წერეთელი) (1840–1915), often mononymously known as Akaki, was a prominent Georgian poet and national liberation movement figure. Early life and education Tsereteli was born in the vi ...

, who was suffering from serious health problems at the time, said at the funeral: "Ilia's inestimable contribution to the revival of the Georgian nation is an example for future generations". The news coverage of the assassination was primarily limited to a single newspaper called Isari (ისარი).

Investigation

In 1907, the Tsarist authorities launched investigation into Chavchavadze's death and arrested four suspects: Giorgi Khizanishvili, Ivane Inashvili, Gigola Modzghvrishvili and Tedo Labauri. One suspect (Gigla Berbichashvili, the head of the crew) went into hiding in Iran, while another one (Pavle Aptsiauri) died during clashes with the police. According to investigation, during the incident Chavchavadze appealed to the crew: "Do not shoot, I am Ilia", while Gigla replied: "That's why we have to shoot you". In 1909, according to the decision of the Stolypin tribunal, the entire gang was sentenced to capital punishment. Following the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

, Gigla Berbichashvili returned to Georgia in 1921 and worked in the various positions within the Soviet Georgian government. In 1936, the investigation was launched against him for participating the murder of Ilia Chavchavadze. In December 1941, he was tried in the court, which sentenced him to capital punishment in January 1942. However, this was later changed to 10 years imprisonment.

Theories

The assassination of Ilia Chavchavadze remains controversial today. The Tsarist investigation concluded that the murderers were part of Bolshevik "Red Squad", while the Soviet investigation blamed the Tsarist secret police and administration for being involved in the assassination. The unofficial versions mostly blame Bolsheviks as well as Mensheviks for orchestrating the murder. Chavchavadze had publicly and very successfully undermined the growth of both Bolshevik and Menshevik factions of the Social Democratic Labour Party. According to Montefiore: "The Bolshevik position in Georgia was undermined by the assassination of the hugely popular Prince Ilya Chavchavadze, in August 1907. The Bolsheviks had attacked his patriarchal vision of Georgian culture and, it was widely believed, had decided to kill him. There is some evidence that Stalin's friends

Sergo Ordzhonikidze Sergo Konstantinovich Ordzhonikidze, ; (born Grigol Konstantines dze Orjonikidze; 18 February 1937) was an Old Bolshevik and a Soviet statesman. Born and raised in Georgia, in the Russian Empire, Ordzhonikidze joined the Bolsheviks at an e ...

and

Filipp Makharadze Filipp Yeseyevich Makharadze ( ka, ფილიპე მახარაძე, ; 9 March 1868 – 10 December 1941) was a Georgian Bolshevik revolutionary and government official. Life Born in the village of Shemokmedi (Guria, Georgia), Makha ...

organized or took part in the assassination. It may be that the SDs took no part in the murder at all. Stalin always praised Chavchavadze's poetry in his old age and there is no evidence that he ordered the hit, but he was very close to Sergo and he was certainly more than capable of separating literary merit from cruel necessity: politics always came first."

Legacy

In 1987 Chavchavadze was formally

by the

Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonl ...

, as "Saint Ilia the Righteous." In 1998

Stephen Kinzer Stephen Kinzer (born August 4, 1951) is an American author, journalist, and academic. A former ''New York Times'' correspondent, he has published several books and writes for several newspapers and news agencies. Reporting career During the 198 ...

wrote: "Today leftists in Georgia embrace Chavchavadze for his hatred of injustice, centrists love him for his nonviolent humanism, and right-wing nationalists have adopted his slogan ''Motherland, Language, Faith.''" Faith, in this context, exclusively means Georgian Orthodoxy. In 2006,

Ilia State University Ilia State University ISU ( ka, ილიას სახელმწიფო უნივერსიტეტი) is a public university in Tbilisi, Georgia that was founded in 2006 as a result of a merger of six different academic institution ...

was named after Ilia Chavchavadze. Streets and avenues named after him include

's central avenue, Ilia Chavchavadze Avenue.

Published works

* ''Georgian Poetry: Rustaveli to Galaktion: A Bilingual Anthology''. Translations by Lyn Coffin, with the assistance of Gia Jokhadze, featuring an introduction by Dodona Kiziria. Slavica,

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in Monroe County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. The population was 79,168 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-most populous city in Indiana and ...

, 2013. * ''Georgische Dichter''. Translated and compiled by

Arthur Leist Arthur Leist (8 July 1852 – 22 March 1927) was a German writer, journalist and translator of Georgian and Armenian literature. He was born and educated at Breslau. During the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), he got interested in the Caucasus. ...

, Dresden-Leipzig, 1887 (Poems of Ilia Chavchavadze and other Georgian poets, in German) *
The Hermit
' by Chavchavadze. Translated from the Georgian by

Marjory Wardrop Marjory Scott Wardrop (11 November 1869 – 7 December 1909) was an English scholar and translator of Georgia (country), Georgian literature. She was a sister of the United Kingdom, British diplomat and scholar of Georgia, Oliver Wardrop, Sir Ol ...

, London: Bernard Quaritch, 1895

References

Sources

* * * * * * Reisner, Oliver: ''The Tergdaleulebi: Founders of Georgian National Identity''. In: Ladislaus Löb, István Petrovics, György E. Szonyi (eds.): ''Forms of Identity: Definitions and Changes''. Attila Jozsef University, Szeged 1994, pp. 125–37 *

External links