Tamar Abakelia (also spelled as Tamara Abakeliya; ka, თამარ აბაკელია; ; 19 August 1905 – 14 May 1953) was a Georgian sculptor, theater designer and illustrator. She was granted the title of Honored Artist of the

Georgian SSR 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 ...

in 1942.

Family

Abakelia's father, Grigol Abakelia, a chief prosecuting officer for the Georgian SSR, and uncle, Ioseb Abakelia, a leading Georgian

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

specialist, were shot during

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 ...

in 1938. She was married to a Socialist poet and playwright Karlo Kaladze (1907–1988). She had one son with Kaladze, sculptor Gulda Kaladze.

Biography

Born in

Khoni Khoni ( ka, ხონი ) is a town in the Western Georgia (country), Georgian region (mkhare) of Imereti with a population of 7,756 as of January 2024. It is situated on the left bank of the Tskhenistsqali, Tskhenistsqali River in the north-we ...

Imereti Imereti ( Georgian: იმერეთი, ) is a region of Georgia situated in the central-western part of the republic along the middle and upper reaches of the Rioni River. Imereti is the most populous region in Georgia. It consists of 11 mun ...

(then part of

Kutais Governorate The Kutaisi or Kutais Governorate was a province (''guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty (1801–1917), Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire. It roughly corresponded to most of western Georgia (country), Georgia throughout most of its ...

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 ...

), Tamar Abakelia graduated from

Tbilisi State Academy of Arts The Tbilisi State Academy of Arts ( ka, თბილისის სახელმწიფო სამხატვრო აკადემია) is one of the oldest universities in Georgia and the Caucasus. It is located in central Tbilisi ...

in 1929 and taught there beginning in 1938. Among Abakelia's works were graphic illustrations for Nikolay Tikhonov,

Shota Rustaveli Shota Rustaveli ( ka, შოთა რუსთაველი, – after c. 1220), mononymously known simply as Rustaveli, was a medieval Georgian poet. He is considered to be the pre-eminent poet of the Georgian Golden Age and one of the g ...

, ''

David of Sasun David of Sassoun ( ''Sasuntsi Davit also spelled David of Sasun'') is the main hero of Armenia's national epic ''Daredevils of Sassoun'', who drove Arab Egyptian invaders out of Armenia. Background The ''Daredevils of Sassoun'' (also known as ...

'',

Vazha-Pshavela Vazha-Pshavela ( ka, ვაჟა-ფშაველა), simply referred to as Vazha ( ka, ვაჟა) (14 July 1861 – 10 July 1915), is the pen name of the Georgian poet and writer Luka Razikashvili ( ka, ლუკა რაზიკა� ...

as well as stage decorations for the Rustaveli and Marjanishvili theaters and costume designs for the films '' Arsena'' (1937), ''

Giorgi Saakadze Giorgi Saakadze ( ka, გიორგი სააკაძე; 1570 – October 3, 1629) was a Georgian politician and military commander who played an important but contradictory role in the politics of the early 17th-century Georgia. He was ...

'' (1942), and '' David Guramishvili'' (1945). Many of her achievements were in the field of sculpture. Noted for the dynamism of composition and artistically rounded forms, Abakelia was responsible for much of the progress of Soviet Georgian sculpture. She sculptured friezes on the Museum of Marxism–Leninism 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 ( ...

, depicting the various phases of

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

construction in Georgia (1936–37). Abakelia died in Tbilisi in 1953 and was buried there, at the

Didube Pantheon The Didube Pantheon ( ka, დიდუბის მწერალთა და საზოგადო მოღვაწეთა პანთეონი) is a cemetery in Tbilisi, Georgia, where some of the most prominent writers, artists, sc ...

.Voyce, Arthur (1948), ''Russian Architecture'', p. . ew York Philosophical Library

Gallery

File:Monument of lecia ukrainka.jpg,

Lesya Ukrainka Lesya Ukrainka (, ; born Larysa Petrivna Kosach, ; – ) was one of Ukrainian literature's foremost writers, best known for her poems and plays. She was also an active political, civil, and feminist activist. Among her best-known works are ...

, 1952

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abakelia, Tamar 1905 births 1953 deaths Soviet painters People from Khoni People from Kutais Governorate Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Mingrelian women Soviet sculptors Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Soviet costume designers Tbilisi State Academy of Arts alumni Academic staff of the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts Burials at Didube Pantheon