Guram Kutaladze and Inga Ghutidze (Editors)
Nana Basilashvili and Liana Partsvania (Translators)
Trevor Cartledge (Translation Editor)

Series: Georgian Classics
BISAC: PSY015000; SCI080000; PHI019000
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52305/VWHW8260

The entire life, creative work, societal and practical endeavors of Ilia Chavchavadze (1837-1907) – the renowned Georgian writer, publicist, large-scale political and public figure, considered to be a true statesman – were guided by a single idea: the identity and sovereignty of his nation. With his sovereign personality, Ilia Chavchavadze became a mentor and teacher to the Georgian people trapped within the Russian “prison of nations.” With a brilliant mind and a firm hand, he forged the cultural consciousness and political will of the Georgian nation.

Ilia is the founding father of Georgian liberal-democratic nationalism, a philosophy perfectly formulated by his lapidary phrase: “We must be masters of our own destiny.” This was said at a time when the Georgians, trapped in the Russian “prison of nations,” had lost their political image, been stripped of their statehood, and faced the imminent threat of losing their national identity. He managed to fan the smoldering spark in the heart of the Georgian nation, turning it into the fundamental idea of a struggle for national liberation guiding the cultural and political consciousness of the Georgian nation to this day.

The present book compiles only a portion of Ilia Chavchavadze’s journalistic and publicist legacy. The pieces are organized chronologically across several thematic sections. The national issues discussed and highlighted within them carry broad cultural significance and are, consequently, common to all mankind in scope. The universal, human contribution of the “Father of the Nation”- as the grateful Georgian people call him – lies in his articulation of the anti-imperialist nature and principles of true nationalism. He canonized this ethos ideologically, in his immortal formula: “Homeland is the only divine treasure bestowed by God upon this earth,” a sentiment that the discerning and tasteful reader will easily perceive.

This book will appeal to anyone interested in the culture and history of the Georgian nation, as well as to those who hold the concepts of nation, national life, and the essence and complexities of true nationalism as supreme values.

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