Samson Kuagu-ipa Chanba (; 18 June 1886 – 1937) was a pioneering writer and

statesman A statesman or stateswoman is a politician or a leader in an organization who has had a long and respected career at the national or international level, or in a given field. Statesman or statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States ...

from

Abkhazia Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a List of states with limited recognition, partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It cover ...

killed in

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 ...

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

. Chanba was born on 18 June 1886 in the village of Atara. He initially became a teacher. In 1919 he published the poem ''Daughter of the Mountains'', and in 1920 the play ''Amkhadzyr'', the first play written in the

Abkhaz language Abkhaz, also known as Abkhazian, is a Northwest Caucasian languages, Northwest Caucasian language most closely related to Abaza language, Abaza. It is spoken mostly by the Abkhazians, Abkhaz people. It is one of the official languages of Abkhazi ...

. After 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 ...

, Chanba became active in politics. In 1921 Chanba joined the Communist Party and he became co-editor (with M. Khashba) of the newspaper ''Red Abkhazia'' and the People's Commissar for Education of the

SSR Abkhazia The Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia (SSR Abkhazia), სსრ აფხაზეთი; ' , ССР Абхазия; ' was a short-lived republic within the Caucasus region of the Soviet Union that covered the territory of Abkhazia, and ex ...

. In 1925 Chanba became the Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the SSR Abkhazia, and from 1930 to 1932 he returned to his position of People's Commissar for Education. From 1932 until 1937 Chanba was a fellow at the Abkhazian Institute for Language, Literature and History and from 1935 until 1937 Chairman of the Writers' Union of Abkhazia. In 1937 Chanba was arrested and subsequently shot in Stalin's Great Purge.

References

1886 births 1937 deaths Abkhazian writers Abkhazian poets Abkhazian politicians Great Purge victims from Georgia (country) Abkhazian murder victims Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Abkhazian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century poets 20th-century dramatists and playwrights {{USSR-bio-stub