Works by acclaimed writer Mikheil Javakhishvili coming to German-speaking readers

Works by one of the leading Georgian writers of the 20th century are coming to German-speaking readers after a collection of stories by Mikheil Javakhishvili was unveiled at the Georgian Embassy in Berlin on Monday.

Translated by Steffi Khotivari Junger and Archil Khotivari, the compilation was prepared ahead of the Frankfurt Book Fair, with the major literary event launching on October 11.

The translators led the presentation in Berlin alongside Detlef Stein, publishing director of Anthea Publishing House, within an evening of literature at the embassy.

Javakhishvili enjoyed the most prolific period of his writing career in the 1920s and 1930s.

Their work will honour the legacy of Javakhishvili, praised by British literary scholar Donald Rayfield for "his vivid story-telling, straight in medias res, his buoyant humour, subtle irony, and moral courage [that] merit comparison with those of Stendhal, Guy de Maupassant, and Emile Zola".

Born in 1880 in Georgia, then under the Imperial Russian control, Javakhishvili first published a story in 1903, with his subsequent journalistic articles criticising the imperial authorities on many occasions.

Forced into exile to Europe in 1906, the Georgian author studied art and political economy at the University of Paris. His first return to Georgia led to his arrest and second exile starting in 1910, with Javakhishvili finally returning to his homeland in 1917.

The Soviet takeover of the independent Georgia in 1921 became a new focus of Javakhishvili's literary work which involved satirical critique of the regime. The author embarked on the most prolific period of his career in the 1920s and 1930s.

His works featured provocative, passionate writing that often defied both societal taboos and the rule of the authority. Javakhishvili was arrested a number of times and kept under surveillance for his past membership of the independent Georgia's National-Democratic Party.

His final arrest took place in August 1937, during the height of Soviet repressions. Javakhishvili was shot on September 30 after being declared an "enemy of the people".

His works were kept under censorship until a rehabilitation in the late 1950s that led to his works being published again.

The project for translating the collection of Javakhishvili's works was aimed to be part of the ongoing celebrations of 25 years of diplomatic relations between Georgia and Germany.

Translators Steffi Khotivari Junger and Archil Khotivari have been involved in Georgian programs for the Frankfurt fair, presenting Georgian authors at events including the 2015 edition of the fair.