Georgian novelist Chabua Amirejibi dies at 92

Georgian novelist, publicist, and Soviet-regime dissident, Chabua Amirejibi died at 92 in Tbilisi.

The Georgian Parliament started its meeting with holding a moment of silence for Amirejibi. Parliament Chairman Davit Usupashvili said that the whole country is concerned for the writer.

The Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and former PM Bidzina Ivanishvili expressed regret over Amirejibis death.

Chabua Amirejibi is the author of one of the most prominent bestsellers in the Soviet Union Data Tutashkhia, that was published in 1975 and was translated into 29 languages. In the novel, the author described a young Georgian mans tragic fate during the Russian Empire. The novel is considered as the masterpiece of Georgian literature. After the screen version, it became one of the best movies of Soviet Union.

Amirejibi was consecrated as a monk and named David in 2010. However he didnt go to the Monastery due to his health problems, so he lived in his house.

The novelist was born in 1921. His family was repressed by Joseph Stalin, the Soviot Union leader. His father was shot and mother was imprisoned and sent to a Siberian camp. In the early 1940s, Amirejibi became involved in anti-Soviet activities. In 1944 he was arrested on coup charges and sentenced to twenty-five years of imprisonment in Siberia. Three times he tried to escape from prison. Later, he described the prison life in his novel Gora Mborgali.

After Stalins death, he was rehabilitated and began his literary career in his late thirties.

In 2009, in spite of his age, Amirejibi joined the movement Defend Georgia, and allied with the opposition of President Mikheil Saakashvili's government.

Chabua Amirejibi will be laid to rest at the Didube Pantheon. The Georgian government will pay funeral expenses.