Otia Ioseliani ( ka, ოტია იოსელიანი) (June 16, 1930 – July 14, 2011) was 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 ...
prose writer and dramatist, whose plays have been successfully staged in Georgia as well as in other countries of the former
Soviet Union and
East Germany.
Rayfield, Donald
Patrick Donald Rayfield OBE (born 12 February 1942, Oxford) is an English academic and Emeritus Professor of Russian and Georgian at Queen Mary University of London. He is an author of books about Russian and Georgian literature, and about Josep ...
(1994), '' The Literature of Georgia: A History'', p. 322. Clarendon Press, .
Biography
Otia Ioseliani was born in the village of
Gvishtibi,
Tsqaltubo District, in then-
Soviet Georgia
The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц ...
. He began writing in the mid-1950s and published his first collection of stories in 1957. The nationwide recognition came with his first novel ''The Falling Stars'' (ვარსკვლავთცვენა, 1962), which, like Ioseliani's many early works, treated the theme of
World War II.
He then tackled in his works a great variety of themes using different artistic styles. In the 1960s and 1970s, he published popular novels such as ''Once There Was a Woman'' (იყო ერთი ქალი, 1970), ''Taken Prisoner by Prisoners'' (ტყვეთა ტყვე, 1975), and a number of stories.
In the 1960s, Ioseliani first tried his hand at screen scripts and theatre plays, resulting, among others, in the comedies ''Until the Ox-Cart Turns Over'' (სანამ ურემი გადაბრუნდება, 1969) and ''Six Old Maids and a Man'' (ექვსი შინაბერა და ერთი მამაკაცი, 1971), which were successful enough to fill the theatres in
East Berlin
East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...
.
Ioseliani died in 2011 at the age of 81. He was buried in the yard of his own house in his native Gvishtibi according to the will of the late writer. Among his awards was Georgia's
Order of Honor Order of Honor may refer to:
*Order of Honour (Armenia)
*Order of Honor (Belarus), established in 1995
* Order of Honor (Georgia)
*Order of Honour (Greece), an award that replaced the abolished Royal Order of George I in 1975
*Order of Honour (Moldo ...
.
The President of Georgia expressed his sorrow on Otia Ioseliani's death
Administration of the President of Georgia. July 15, 2011. Accessed April 10, 2012.
References
External links
Otia Ioseliani
at the Georgian National Filmography
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ioseliani, Otia
1930 births
2011 deaths
Burials at Didube Pantheon
People from Imereti
Svan people
Dramatists and playwrights from Georgia (country)
Novelists from Georgia (country)
Recipients of the Order of Honor (Georgia)
20th-century novelists
20th-century dramatists and playwrights from Georgia (country)