Acclaimed Georgian philosopher awarded top state prize

A German-born novelist deported as a 19-year-old to his ancestral home Georgia in 1946 following the execution of his father, has been awarded Georgia’s top state prize – the Presidential Order of Excellence.

Famed Georgian philosopher and author Givi Margvelashvili, who writes only in German, was today awarded the state prize for his contribution to the creative arts and promoting Georgian culture abroad.

The acclaimed author and Honorary Doctor of Tbilisi State University, who celebrated his 88th birthday today, was presented the award by head of the President’s Administration Giorgi Abashishvili for his "long and fruitful artistic and scientific work” and his efforts to promote Georgian culture abroad.

Earlier this year Agenda.ge met and interviewed Givi Margvelashvili about his vibrant life. Read the article here.

Born in Germany in 1927, Margvelashvili was deported at the age of 19 by the Soviet KGB to his ancestral land Georgia, which he knew nothing about. His father was executed in 1946 by the Soviet security service while he was detained in a Soviet concentration camp in Germany.

Author and philosopher Givi Margvelashvili was awarded Georgia's Presidential Order of Excellence today. Photo from the Administration of the President of Georgia.

After arriving in Georgia, Margvelashvili learnt the language and immersed himself in writing.

I certainly remember that I started writing in 1961 because I received a one-room apartment in Saburtalo [a district of Tbilisi]. I was alone and I started writing there, everything began from that flat,” he told Agenda.ge.

In Germany he lived through the Nazi regime and in Georgia he was subject to the Communist regime – something not many people experienced.

I knew what was bad in Germany and what is bad here. These two ‘bads’ are much similar and this is reason enough to think and write about it. People who were writing about these problems mostly knew only one side but I knew both. I knew from my personal experience that there is one main harsh line in the history of these two worlds. This was most precious to me and I tried to describe this somehow artistically.”

After years of writing, Margvelashvili published his first book in 1991. One year earlier, in 1990, he returned to Berlin after more than 40 years away. He wanted to travel back and forth between Georgia and Germany but failing health meant he was forced to remain in Germany for treatment.

In 1994 he was granted German citizenship but he had to give up his Georgian citizenship. Now Margvelashvili called himself a German citizen who lived in Georgia.

Givi Margvelashvili speaks to Agenda.ge earlier in 2015. Photo by N. Alavidze/Agenda.ge.

Margvelashvili’s life-long contribution to Georgia-German cultural relations has been recognised internationally. 

In 2014 the Goethe Institute and Institute for International Cooperation of the German Adult Education Association established an annual German-Georgian Culture Award bearing Margvelashvili's name.

The prize, awarded for outstanding achievement in the field of Georgian-German cultural relations, was awarded to Giorgi Leonidze State Museum of Georgian Literature Director Lasha Bakradze in 2014 and Georgian National Museum General Director David Lordkipanidze in 2015.