Samson Kuagu-ipa Chanba ( ab, Самсон Кәагә-иԥа Ҷанба; 18 June 1886 – 1937) was a pioneering writer and

statesman A statesman or stateswoman typically is a politician who has had a long and respected political career at the national or international level. Statesman or Statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States * ''The Statesman'' (Oregon), a n ...

from

Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which vi ...

killed in

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Nikolay Yezhov, Yezhov'), was General ...

. Chanba was born on 18 June 1886 in the village of Atara. He initially became a teacher. In 1919 he published the poem ''Daughter of the Mountains'', and in 1920 the play ''Amkhadzyr'', the first play written in the

Abkhaz language Abkhaz ( ; ), sometimes spelled Abxaz and also known as Abkhazian, is a Northwest Caucasian language most closely related to Abaza. It is spoken mostly by the Abkhaz people. It is one of the official languages of Abkhazia, where around 100,00 ...

. After the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

, Chanba joined politics. In 1921 Chanba joined the Communist Party and he became co-editor (with M. Khashba) of the newspaper ''Red Abkhazia'' and the People's Commissar for Education of the SSR Abkhazia. In 1925 Chanba became the Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the SSR Abkhazia, and from 1930 to 1932 he returned to his position of People's Commissar for Education. From 1932 until 1937 Chanba was a fellow at the Abkhazian Institute for Language, Literature and History and from 1935 until 1937 Chairman of the Writers' Union of Abkhazia. In 1937 Chanba was arrested and subsequently shot in Stalin's Great Purge.

References

1886 births 1937 deaths Abkhazian writers Abkhazian poets Abkhazian politicians Great Purge victims Abkhazian murder victims Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Abkhazian dramatists and playwrights Executed Abkhaz people 20th-century poets 20th-century dramatists and playwrights {{USSR-bio-stub