Giorgi Avalishvili ( ka, გიორგი ავალიშვილი) (1769 – 1850) was a Georgian diplomat, writer and one of the founding fathers of the Georgian theatre. His sister Mariam was married to the Georgian diplomat

Garsevan Chavchavadze Prince Garsevan Chavchavadze ( ka, გარსევან ჭავჭავაძე) (July 20, 1757 - April 7, 1811) was a Georgia (country), Georgian nobleman (''tavadi''), politician and diplomat primarily known as the Georgian ambassador t ...

. Belonging to a princely family hailing from the

kingdom of Kakheti The Kingdom of Kakheti ( ka, კახეთის სამეფო, tr; also spelled ''Kaxet'i'' or ''Kakhetia'') was a late medieval and early modern monarchy in eastern Georgia, centered at the province of Kakheti, with its capital first at ...

in eastern Georgia, Avalishvili was educated in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. After the Russo-Georgian

treaty of Georgievsk The Treaty of Georgievsk (; ka, გეორგიევსკის ტრაქტატი, tr) was a bilateral treaty concluded between the Russian Empire and the east Georgian kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti on July 24, 1783. The treaty establi ...

, he served as envoy to

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

for the Georgian kings

Erekle II Heraclius II, also known as Erekle II ( ka, ერეკლე II) and The Little Kakhetian ( ka, პატარა კახი, link=no ; 7 November 1720 or 7 October 1721 Cyril_Toumanoff.html" ;"title="ccording to Cyril Toumanoff">C. Touman ...

and Giorgi XII between 1784 and 1801. Gvosdev, Nikolas K. (2000), ''Imperial policies and perspectives towards Georgia, 1760-1819'', p. 82. Palgrave Macmillan, Avalishvili traveled to the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

from 1819 to 1820 and wrote a valuable and long travelogue. The rest of his work has largely been lost. Avalishvili extensively translated Russian and

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

an authors. He helped to found the first national Georgian theatre at the court of Erekle II in

Tiflis 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 ( ...

in 1791. He is also credited with writing the first original Georgian drama, '' King Teimuraz'', of which only the author's prologue survives.

Rayfield, Donald Patrick Donald Rayfield OBE (born 12 February 1942, Oxford) is an English academic and Emeritus Professor of Russian and Georgian at Queen Mary University of London. He is an author of books about Russian and Georgian literature, and about Jose ...

(2000), '' The Literature of Georgia: A History'', pp. 135-6.

Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...

, .

References

1769 births 1850 deaths Diplomats for Georgia (country) Writers from Georgia (country) Translators from Georgia (country) Nobility of Georgia (country) Dramatists and playwrights from Georgia (country) Calligraphers from Georgia (country) {{Georgia-diplomat-stub