Egnate in c. 1888 photo by Alexander Roinashvili
Monument to Egnate Ninoshvili in Tbilisi, Georgia

Egnate Tomas dze Ninoshvili [1] (17 February 1859 – 12 May 1894) was a Georgian writer and social democratic activist.

Early life and education

Ninoshvili was born in a poor peasant family[2] in Kela village, Guria region in western Georgia.[3] He studied at the Ozurgeti seminary but was expelled following a student protest.[4] He then worked as a school teacher, telegraphist, typesetter, in a refinery and in a mine. For a brief period he studied in Montpellier, France.[2]

Professional activities

His literary career started in 1887, with publications in Iveria, a literary and political newspaper. His short stories and novels, relating the hard life of Georgian peasants and their oppression by tsarist officials, include Gogia Uishvili (1890), Lake Paliastomi (1891), Simona (1892) and Kristine (1893).[3]

In 1892, Ninoshvili was one of the founders of Mesame Dasi ("Third Generation"), a Marxist organisation based in Tbilisi[5] that no other than Joseph Stalin joined in 1898.[6] It was through his involvement with Mesame Dasi that Stalin was first introduced to the ideas of Karl Marx.[7][8][9] However, the group was too moderate for Stalin's taste and he became discontented with the viewpoints of the majority. Because of Stalin's sympathies toward Bolsheviks, he found himself constantly at odds with the others in the group.[10]

Death and legacy

Ninoshvili died of tuberculosis in 1894,[2] aged 35. His historical novel The Guria Uprising, about the 1841 peasant rebellion in Guria, was published posthumously in 1902.[3] The first Georgian feature film, Kristine (1916-1918) was based on his short story of the same name.[11] In 1948, a house that he had lived in at Archeuli village, Guria was converted into a museum.[12]

References

  1. ↑ His original family name at birth was Ingorokva
  2. 1 2 3 Rayfield, David (2013). The Literature of Georgia: A History. Routledge. p. 180. ISBN 9781136825293.
  3. 1 2 3 "Ниношвили Эгнате Фомич". Большая советская энциклопедия [Great Soviet Encyclopedia] (in Russian) (3rd ed.).
  4. ↑ Suny, Ronald Grigor (1994). The Making of the Georgian Nation. Indiana University Press. p. 156. ISBN 9780253209153.
  5. ↑ Suny, Ronald Grigor (1994). The Making of the Georgian Nation. Indiana University Press. p. 158-159. ISBN 9780253209153.
  6. ↑ Rappaport, Helen (1999). Joseph Stalin: A Biographical Companion. ABC-CLIO. p. 98. ISBN 9781576070840.
  7. ↑ «Месаме-даси» in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969–1978 (in Russian)
  8. ↑ Treadgold, Donald (2018). Twentieth Century Russia (9th ed.). Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9780429975233.
  9. ↑ "Obituary: Marshal Joseph Stalin". The Sunday Times. March 6, 1953. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  10. ↑ Rappaport, Helen (1999). Joseph Stalin: A Biographical Companion. ABC-CLIO. p. 98. ISBN 9781576070840.
  11. ↑ "Georgian Cinema History". Georgian Film Commission. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  12. ↑ "Egnate Ninoshvili Museum". Georgian Museums. Retrieved 25 March 2016.

Egnate Ninoshvili at IMDb

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