Gelovani Mirza

Mirza Gelovani (b. March 2, 1917, village Nakalakari, present-day Tianeti Municipality – d. July, 1944, buried at the cemetery in the village of San′niki, Berenkovich district, Vitebsk region, Republic of Belarus) was a poet.

He received his primary education in Tianeti. He also graduated from the pedagogical technical institute (1935). Gelovani's first poem White Land was published by R. Gvenetadze in his novel Lashauri Evenings (1935). Gelovani arrived in Tbilisi in 1936, he attended university as a non-credit student, worked at the publishing house “Federation”, in the editorial office of “Soviet Abkhazia”. His poems have been published in the magazine “Our Generation” and other magazines and newspapers from 1935.

In 1939, the already popular poet had a literary evening at the Writers' Club, where he read his poems and ballads for the last time. In November of the same year, he joined the Red Army. The 27-year-old poet fell on the battlefield at the end of World War II. Gelovani wrote his first poem in 1933, the last one – in 1944. His creative life lasted a total of ten years, but he still managed to find his own voice, to create his own poetic world. His best poems are dedicated to his homeland and people (Tushi Woman at the Spring, 1936; Panduri, 1938; Tskhrakara, 1938; ballad Aoni, 1937; Shavlego, 1938; poem Shavnabada, 1938, etc.). His poems from the war period are accompanied by intense spiritual pain and faith in victory (At the Grave of Brothers, 1941; Wait For Me, 1942; From Mtatsminda to Smolensk, 1943; To Mother, 1943; My Poems, 1944, etc.).

His romantic poems are distinguished by their vivid imagery, temperament and expressiveness (On the Road, Sit Quietly, I Remember, Moon, Words Fell Like Gravel, etc.). Gelovani was posthumously awarded the Rustaveli State Prize (1975). His poetry collections were published six times: Poems (1954), Shavnabada (1956), Tskhrakara (1960), From the Pocket Book (1964), White Land (1972), Front Poems (1975).

Mirza Gelovani House Museum, the first exposition depicting Gelovani's life and work, was opened in the Tianeti Local Museum in 1977 and existed as a branch of this museum. In 1980, it was transformed into the Gelovani Memorial House-Museum. Since 1983, the house-museum has been located in Gelovani's apartment.

Literary work: ოცდაშვიდი გაზაფხული, თბ., 2001; 100 ლექსი, თბ., 2006.

Literature: აგიაშვილი ნ., ჭაბუკები დარჩნენ მარად, თბ., 1972; მისივე, პირად-პირადი, თბ., 1986; რადიანი შ., თანამედროვე ქართული ლიტერატურა, თბ., 1961; მირზა გელოვანი. ბიობიბლიოგრაფია, თბ., 1990. ივრისპირელი მზეჭაბუკი, თბ., 2008; ლექსთმცოდნეობა ‒ ეძღვნება მირზა გელოვანის ხსოვნას, თბ., 2017. ნ. აგიაშვილი.

T. Gelovani