Valerian Gaprindashvili
Gaprindashvili Valerian [December 21, 1888 (January 2, 1889), Kutaisi – January 31, 1941, Tbilisi] was a poet. He was born into a teacher’s family. He graduated from the Kutaisi Classical Gymnasium and then from the Faculty of Law at Moscow University (1914). He was one of the leaders of the "Tsisperkantselebi" movement. For many years, he chaired the Translators' Section of the Georgian Writers' Union and the literary and artistic department of the newspaper Zaria Vostoka. He began writing poetry while still a student (also wrote in Russian). His first Georgian poem was published in 1915 in the newspaper Megobari. The poems written between 1915 and 1918 became a part of his first collection of works Daisebi (1919). This collection was a great example of Georgian Symbolist poetry. It fully shows the artist’s worldview of that time. His poems include cycles like "Daisebi," "Oruelebi," "Ophelia," and others.
Gaprindashvili played an important role in the development of Georgian poetic culture, especially in the further development of metaphor and versification. The sharp sense of hopelessness and futility influenced his poetic art as well. Namely, while defining what is “the poet’s mission”, he clearly opposed classical literature. He regarded madness, illness, and suicide as the natural fate of art detached from life ("Monologue of the Bohemian").
The early 1920s mark the beginning of the new period in his works. Noteworthy are his writings on Rustaveli, D. Guramishvili, and N. Baratashvili; he translated works by E. Pottier, J.W. Goethe, P.B. Shelley, H. Heine, V. Hugo, E. Poe, A. Pushkin, M. Lermontov, A. Blok, V. Mayakovsky, and others. He translated N. Baratashvili’s poems into Russian and published them as a separate book in 1923.
Literary works: ლექსები, ტ. 1, ტფ., 1926; რჩეული, თბ., 1956.
Literature: ასათიანი ლ., რჩეული ნაწერები, ტ. 1, თბ., 1958; აფხაიძე შ., წერილები და მოგონებები, თბ., 1969; ჩხენკელი თ., წერილები, თბ., 1966; ავალიანი ლ., ვალერიან გაფრინდაშვილი, „პოეზიის მთრთოლვარე მონა, „ჩვენი მწერლობა“, 2009, №25(103); ბედიანიძე დ., ვალერიან გაფრინდაშვილი და ფოლკლორი, „კრიტერიუმი“, 2004, №10; გადილია ა., ქართველი სიმბოლისტები, თბ., 2006; ჯალიაშვილი მ., ვალერიან გაფრინდაშვილი, „ნობათი“, 1992, №1; ჯახველიძე მ., ვალერიან გაფრინდაშვილი და ევროპული ლიტერატურა, თბ., 2005.
G. Asatiani
