Guram Dochanashvili ( ka, გურამ დოჩანაშვილი; 26 March 1939 – 3 April 2021) was a
Georgian prose writer and historian by profession, who was popular for his short stories since the 1960s.
Biography
Dochanashvili was born in
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 ( ...
, the capital of then-
Soviet Georgia
The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Georgia, the Georgian SSR, or simply Georgia, was one of the republics of the Soviet Union from its second occupation (by the Red Army) in 1921 to its independence in 1991. Cotermin ...
. Having graduated from the
Tbilisi State University
Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University ( ka, ივანე ჯავახიშვილის სახელობის თბილისის სახელმწიფო უნივერსიტეტი, tr; often shorten ...
in 1962, he worked for the Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography, and participated in several archaeological expeditions from 1962 to 1975. He then managed the prose section of the literary magazine ''Mnatobi'' from 1975 to 1985. Since 1985, he has been a director-in-chief of the
Gruziya-film studio.
Dochanashvili debuted as a writer in 1961. He was immediately noted for his rejection of the Soviet literary dogmas of
Socialist Realism, and his dissident views. Since then, he has published dozens of stories and novellas which won him a nationwide acclaim for their fairy-tale lightness and invention.
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'', p. 289. 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 ...
, . His most popular work is the 1975 novel ''
The First Garment'' (''სამოსელი პირველი'') based on the Holy
Bible
The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
and story of the
War of Canudos
The War of Canudos (, , 1896–1897) was a conflict between the First Brazilian Republic and the residents of Canudos in the Northeast Region, Brazil, northeastern state of Bahia. It was waged in the aftermath of the Lei Áurea, abolition of sl ...
in 19th-century
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
.
Dochanashvili was admitted to hospital on 1 April 2021. His condition was critical and he died two days later.
Acclaimed Georgian writer Guram Dochanashvili dies at 82
/ref>
Bibliography
*Across the Mountain. Short stories (1966)
*The Step. Short stories (1969)
*Glad Hill. Short stories (1971)
* The First Garment. A novel. Book 1 (1975)
*First Garment. A novel. Book 2 (1978)
*First Garment. A novel. Book 3 (1980)
*First Garment. A novel. Book 4 (1990)
*Affair. Short stories (1974)
*Short Stories (1976)
*The Best Grand-Father. A Fairy Tale for School Children (1976)
*First Garment. A novel (1982)
*Two Short Stories (1984)
*Platform. Short stories (1988)
*Four Short Stories (1991)
*Short Stories. Second Edition (1987)
* A Man Who Loved Literature (2001)
*Five Short Stories (2002)
*Brother's. A short story (2002)
* Waterloo or Reconstruction Works. A short story (2002)
*Only One Man. Short stories (2002)
* The First Garment. A novel (2002)
*He was Seeking: Some Kind of Short Story, Partially Detective (2002)
*Difficult. Short stories (2002)
*Khorumi is a Georgian Dance. Play (2003)
*Boulder on Which Once there was a Church, a novel (2002)
*Western Omara and Givia and Planet Hollywood. A novel (2005)
*Until the Time. Short stories (1991)
*The Kezheradzes. Four short stories (2005)
*Collected Stories. In Four Volumes (2003)
*Song without Words (1983)
*What I Remember and Recollect More Often (2010)
Awards
*Literary Award Saba for The Contribution in the Development of Literature (2010)
*Saint George's Order for Establishing Moral Values, Patriarchate of Georgia (2013)
References
External links
Website dedicated to Guram Dochanashvili
1939 births
2021 deaths
Writers from Georgia (country)
Archaeologists from Georgia (country)
Writers from Tbilisi
Magic realism writers
Postmodern writers
{{Georgia-writer-stub
Recipients of the Presidential Order of Excellence
Laureates of the State Prize of Georgia (country)