French book celebrates legacy of Georgian medieval Queen Tamar

The life of Georgia's legendary medieval queen has become a basis for a new book by a descendant of Georgian noble family residing in Paris.

Queen Tamar was the debut historical novel by Marc Andronikof, a representative of the Andronikashvili family that enjoyed princely status in the 19th Century Georgia.

Written in French and translated into Russian, the book focused on the Georgian queen who reigned over a unified and expanded Georgia from 1184 to 1213.

Doctor by profession, Andronikof authored and co-authored a number of books on medicine in French, with Queen Tamar his first foray into historical genre.

The author's focus on the subject of the queen regent was related to his family's historical roots in Georgia.

Following the murder of the 12th Century Byzantine emperor Andronikos I Komnenos, from whom the Andronikashvili family claimed descent, his children Alexius and Eirene found refuge in Georgia ruled by Tamar at the time.

Eirene was a principal protagonist and narrator in Andronikof's novel.

A member of the Bagrationi royal dynasty, Tamar's reign was referred to by historians as the Georgian Golden Age.

Her special status as the first woman to rule Georgia was emphasised by the title mepe ("king"), commonly afforded to Tamar in the medieval Georgian sources.