Paolo Iashvili (Georgian: პაოლო იაშვილი; 29 June 1894 – 22 July 1937) was a Georgian poet and one of the leaders of the Georgian symbolist movement. Under the Soviet Union, his obligatory conformism and the loss of his friends at the height of Joseph Stalin’s Great Purge heavily affected Iashvili, who committed suicide at the Writers’ Union of Georgia.
Born near Kutaisi, western Georgia (then part of Imperial Russia), he was educated at Kutaisi, Anapa, and Paris. Returning to Georgia in 1915, he became one of the cofounders and ideologues of the Georgian symbolist group Blue Horns, and edited the literary magazine Tsisperi Qantsebi ("Blue Horns"). Early in the 1920s, Iashvili, "brilliant, polished, cultural, an amusing talker, European and good-looking" as described by his close friend and translator Boris Pasternak,[1] emerged as a leader of Georgian post-Symbolist and experimental poetry. His devotion to mysticism and "pure art" faded under the Soviet ideological pressure in the late 1920s, when the classics of Georgian literature were effectively banned and the Georgian literary establishment was pressured into submission to socialist dogmas. Many leading writers were virtually silenced, for Iashvili becoming a publicity agent for the hydroelectric engineer Valodia Jikia. On his coming to power, Lavrenty Beria restored many Georgian writers to favor in an attempt to push them into a Soviet ideological camp.[2] The contamination of former Symbolists by socialist dogma was a painful process, but Iashvili had finally to adapt to the Soviet doctrines, for his poetry becoming more and more ideological in essence. Beria even made him a member of the TranscaucasianCentral Committee.
The Great Purgeedit
At the height of the 1930s Great Purges, he made desperate attempts to extricate himself by confessing his "errors in judgment" and reiterating his devotion to Stalin and Beria. He witnessed and even had to participate in public trials that ousted many of his associates from the Writers' Union, effectively condemning them to death. Under Beria’s pressure, he labeled the French writer and his former friend André Gide as "treacherous, black-faced Trotskyite cur". The betrayal of his ideals completely demoralized the poet. Presented by Beria with the alternative of denouncing his lifelong friend and fellow Symbolist poet Titsian Tabidze, or being arrested and tortured by the NKVD, Iashvili went to the Writers' Union office and shot himself dead on 22 July 1937.[3] The Union’s session went on to pass a resolution stating that Iashvili posed as a litterateur while engaging in treason and espionage, and maintaining that his suicide during the course of their meeting was "a provocative act that arouses loathing and indignation in every decent gathering of Soviet writers."[4]
Referencesedit
^Lang, David M. (1962), A Modern History of Georgia, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, p. 255.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Paolo Iashvili.
(in Georgian) The website dedicated to Paolo Iashvili.
Gould, Rebecca, Georgian Literary Modernism: Poems by Titsian Tabidze, Paolo Iashvili and Galaktion Tabidze. Metamorphosis: A Journal of Literary Translation, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 66–103, 2009.
January 01, 1970
paolo, iashvili, georgian, პაოლო, იაშვილი, june, 1894, july, 1937, georgian, poet, leaders, georgian, symbolist, movement, under, soviet, union, obligatory, conformism, loss, friends, height, joseph, stalin, great, purge, heavily, affected, iashvili, committed. Paolo Iashvili Georgian პაოლო იაშვილი 29 June 1894 22 July 1937 was a Georgian poet and one of the leaders of the Georgian symbolist movement Under the Soviet Union his obligatory conformism and the loss of his friends at the height of Joseph Stalin s Great Purge heavily affected Iashvili who committed suicide at the Writers Union of Georgia პაოლო იაშვილი Paolo IashviliBorn29 June 1894Imereti Kutais Governorate Russian EmpireDied22 July 1937 1937 07 22 aged 43 Tbilisi Georgian SSR Soviet UnionOccupationpoetLanguageGeorgianNationalityGeorgianGenrepoetry symbolismLiterary movementBlue Horns Contents 1 Early life 2 The Great Purge 3 References 4 Further reading 5 External linksEarly life editBorn near Kutaisi western Georgia then part of Imperial Russia he was educated at Kutaisi Anapa and Paris Returning to Georgia in 1915 he became one of the cofounders and ideologues of the Georgian symbolist group Blue Horns and edited the literary magazine Tsisperi Qantsebi Blue Horns Early in the 1920s Iashvili brilliant polished cultural an amusing talker European and good looking as described by his close friend and translator Boris Pasternak 1 emerged as a leader of Georgian post Symbolist and experimental poetry His devotion to mysticism and pure art faded under the Soviet ideological pressure in the late 1920s when the classics of Georgian literature were effectively banned and the Georgian literary establishment was pressured into submission to socialist dogmas Many leading writers were virtually silenced for Iashvili becoming a publicity agent for the hydroelectric engineer Valodia Jikia On his coming to power Lavrenty Beria restored many Georgian writers to favor in an attempt to push them into a Soviet ideological camp 2 The contamination of former Symbolists by socialist dogma was a painful process but Iashvili had finally to adapt to the Soviet doctrines for his poetry becoming more and more ideological in essence Beria even made him a member of the Transcaucasian Central Committee The Great Purge editAt the height of the 1930s Great Purges he made desperate attempts to extricate himself by confessing his errors in judgment and reiterating his devotion to Stalin and Beria He witnessed and even had to participate in public trials that ousted many of his associates from the Writers Union effectively condemning them to death Under Beria s pressure he labeled the French writer and his former friend Andre Gide as treacherous black faced Trotskyite cur The betrayal of his ideals completely demoralized the poet Presented by Beria with the alternative of denouncing his lifelong friend and fellow Symbolist poet Titsian Tabidze or being arrested and tortured by the NKVD Iashvili went to the Writers Union office and shot himself dead on 22 July 1937 3 The Union s session went on to pass a resolution stating that Iashvili posed as a litterateur while engaging in treason and espionage and maintaining that his suicide during the course of their meeting was a provocative act that arouses loathing and indignation in every decent gathering of Soviet writers 4 References edit Lang David M 1962 A Modern History of Georgia London Weidenfeld and Nicolson p 255 Rayfield Donald 2000 The Literature of Georgia A History 2nd edition p 264 Routledge ISBN 0 7007 1163 5 Tarkhan Mouravi George January 19 1997 70 years of Soviet Georgia Retrieved on May 14 2007 Barnes Christopher J 2004 Boris Pasternak A Literary Biography p 146 Cambridge University Press ISBN 0 521 52073 8 Further reading editMikaberidze Alexander ed 2007 Iashvili Paolo Dictionary of Georgian National Biography Retrieved on May 15 2007 Rayfield Donald 1982 Pasternak and the Georgians Irish Slavonic Studies 3 39 46 Rayfiled Donald 1990 The Death of Paolo Iashvili Slavonic and East European Review 68 no 3 631 64 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Paolo Iashvili in Georgian The website dedicated to Paolo Iashvili Gould Rebecca Georgian Literary Modernism Poems by Titsian Tabidze Paolo Iashvili and Galaktion Tabidze Metamorphosis A Journal of Literary Translation Vol 17 No 1 pp 66 103 2009 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Paolo Iashvili amp oldid 1218245010, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
