David "Dato" Magradze ( ka, დავით "დათო" მაღრაძე; born 28 June 1962) is a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

poet and politician. He is the author of lyrics of the current national anthem of Georgia, in use since 2004. Born to the family of the writer and literary scholar Elguja Magradze in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

, Magradze is a philologist by education trained at the

Tbilisi State University Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University ( ka, ივანე ჯავახიშვილის სახელობის თბილისის სახელმწიფო უნივერსიტეტი ''Ivane Javaxishvi ...

. He first became prominent in the 1980s and edited the leading Georgian literary journal ''Tsiskari'' for several years. Under

Eduard Shevardnadze Eduard Ambrosis dze Shevardnadze ( ka, ედუარდ ამბროსის ძე შევარდნაძე}, romanized: ; 25 January 1928 – 7 July 2014) was a Soviet and Georgian politician and diplomat who governed Georgia for ...

, he served as Minister of Culture of Georgia from 1992 to 1995 and was elected to the

Parliament of Georgia The Parliament of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პარლამენტი, tr) is the supreme national legislature of Georgia. It is a unicameral parliament, currently consisting of 150 members; of these, 120 are proportio ...

from 1999 until he resigned his position in the legislature in 2001. Magradze withdrew into opposition to Shevardnadze and supported the 2003

Rose Revolution The Rose Revolution or Revolution of Roses ( ka, ვარდების რევოლუცია, tr) was a nonviolent change of power that occurred in Georgia in November 2003. The event was brought about by widespread protests over the ...

which forced him to resign. By 2009, he had joined the opposition to President

Mikheil Saakashvili Mikheil Saakashvili ( ka, მიხეილ სააკაშვილი ; uk, Міхеіл Саакашвілі ; born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist.

and featured prominently in April 2009 rallies demanding Saakashvili's resignation.Opposition demonstration in Georgia requires President to retire within 24 hours
''Trend News''. April 9, 2009 Since 1997 to 2010, Magradze is the President of the Georgian

PEN club PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internationa ...

. He has been awarded several Georgian and international literary prizes and the Georgian Order of Honor. His poems have been translated into English by the

Poetry Translation Centre The Poetry Translation Centre (PTC) is an organization dedicated to translating poetry from Africa, Asia and Latin America. It is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity. It was founded by the British poet Sarah Maguire in 2004. I ...

, German, Italian, Russian, and Armenian languages. in April 2019 he founded the political movement "Defend Georgia" along with Vato Shakarishvili and Gia Gachechiladze

References

External links

David Maghradze
Parliament of Georgia (1999). *http://www.poetrytranslation.org/poets/dato-magradze 1962 births Living people 21st-century poets from Georgia (country) Members of the Parliament of Georgia Politicians from Tbilisi National anthem writers Recipients of the Order of Honor (Georgia) Government ministers of Georgia (country) Male poets from Georgia (country) 21st-century male writers Writers from Tbilisi {{Georgia-poet-stub