Tamar Abakelia (also spelled as Tamara Abakeliya; ka, თამარ აბაკელია; russian: Тама́ра Абаке́лия; 19 August 1905 – 14 May 1953) 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 ...

sculptor, theater designer and illustrator. She was granted the title of Honored Artist of the

Georgian SSR The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц� ...

in 1942.

Family

Abakelia's father, Grigol Abakelia, a chief prosecuting officer for the Georgian SSR, and uncle,

Ioseb Abakelia Ioseb Abakelia (Georgian: იოსებ აბაკელია; March 2, 1882 – 1938) was a pioneering Georgian physician and medical scholar, specializing in the field of phthisiatry (study of tuberculosis). Biography Abakelia was bor ...

, a leading Georgian

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

specialist, were shot during

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 ...

in 1938. She was married to a Socialist poet and playwright Karlo Kaladze (1907–1988). She had one son with Kaladze, sculptor Gulda Kaladze.

Biography

Born in

Khoni Khoni ( ka, ხონი) is a town in the Western Georgian region (mkhare) of Imereti with the population of 8987 (2014 Georgia census). It is situated on the left bank of the Tskhenistkali River in the north-west of Imereti, close to the borde ...

Imereti Imereti ( Georgian: იმერეთი) is a region of Georgia situated in the central-western part of the republic along the middle and upper reaches of the Rioni River. Imereti is the most populous region in Georgia. It consists of 11 munic ...

(then part of

Kutais Governorate The Kutaisi or Kutais Governorate was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire. It roughly corresponded to most of western Georgia throughout most of its existence, and most of the Artvin Province (except th ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

), Tamar Abakelia graduated from

Tbilisi State Academy of Arts The Tbilisi State Academy of Arts ( ka, თბილისის სახელმწიფო სამხატვრო აკადემია) is one of the oldest universities in Georgia and Caucasus. It is located in central Tbilisi near ...

in 1929 and taught there beginning in 1938. Among Abakelia's works were graphic illustrations for Nikolay Tikhonov,

Shota Rustaveli Shota Rustaveli ( ka, შოთა რუსთაველი, c. 1160 – after c. 1220), mononymously known simply as Rustaveli, was a medieval Georgian poet. He is considered to be the pre-eminent poet of the Georgian Golden Age and one of th ...

, ''

David of Sasun David of Sassoun ( hy, Սասունցի Դավիթ ''Sasuntsi Davit also spelled David of Sasun'') is the main hero of Armenia's national epic ''Daredevils of Sassoun'', who drove Arab invaders out of Armenia. Background The ''Daredevils of S ...

'',

Vazha-Pshavela Vazha-Pshavela ( ka, ვაჟა-ფშაველა), Mononymous person, simply referred to as Vazha ( ka, ვაჟა) (26 July 1861 – 10 July 1915), is the pen name of the Georgians, Georgian poet and writer Luka Razikashvili ( ka, ლ ...

as well as stage decorations for the Rustaveli and Marjanishvili theaters and costume designs for the films '' Arsena'' (1937), ''

Giorgi Saakadze Giorgi Saakadze the Grand Mouravi ( ka, გიორგი სააკაძე) (c. 1570 – October 3, 1629) was a Georgian politician and military commander who played an important but contradictory role in the politics of the early 17th-cent ...

'' (1942), and ''

David Guramishvili Prince Davit Guramishvili ( ka, დავით გურამიშვილი) (1705 – 21 July 1792) was a Georgian poet of pre- Romantic Georgian literature. He is known for writing '' Davitiani'', an autobiographical book of poetry that re ...

'' (1945). Many of her achievements were in the field of sculpture. Noted for the dynamism of composition and artistically rounded forms, Abakelia was responsible for much of the progress of Soviet Georgian sculpture. She sculptured friezes on the Museum of Marxism–Leninism 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 ...

, depicting the various phases of

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

construction in Georgia (1936–37). Abakelia died in Tbilisi in 1953 and was buried there, at the

Didube Pantheon The Didube Pantheon ( ka, დიდუბის მწერალთა და საზოგადო მოღვაწეთა პანთეონი) is a cemetery in Tbilisi, Georgia, where some of the most prominent writers, artists, s ...

.Voyce, Arthur (1948), ''Russian Architecture'', p. . ew York Philosophical Library

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abakelia, Tamar 1905 births 1953 deaths Soviet painters People from Khoni People from Kutais Governorate Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Mingrelian women Soviet sculptors Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Soviet costume designers Tbilisi State Academy of Arts alumni Academic staff of the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts Burials at Didube Pantheon