Shota Rustaveli is a great poet and statesman. What position did Shota hold? Encyclopedia of Famous Georgians What position did Shota hold?

When exactly the great queen of Georgia Tamar, whom we usually call Tamara in the Russian manner, was born is unknown. According to historians, this woman was born around 1165

The mother of the future queen died early, and the girl was raised by her aunt Rusudan. She received an excellent education for her time, learned feminine wisdom, endurance and patience. When Tamar was nineteen years old, her father, King George III, anticipating his imminent death, crowned his only daughter, giving the throne to a woman for the first time in the history of Georgia.

Soon the father died, and the girl had to rule the country on her own. Tamar did this boldly and fairly, which earned her respect from her people. The news about the wise young queen spread to all nearby states.

Tamara was stately and graceful. Tall, of regular build, with dark, deep eyes, she carried herself proudly and with dignity. They said about the queen that she had the manner of “royally freely darting her gaze around her, had a pleasant tongue, was cheerful and alien to any swagger, speech delighting the ear, conversation alien to any depravity.”

There were various rumors about the perfection of the young queen; Byzantine princes, the Syrian Sultan and the Persian Shah sought her hand. Suitors began to come to Tamar, offering her their hearts and wealth. But she gave consent only to the son of Grand Duke Andrei Bogolyubsky, Yuri. The marriage was dictated by political considerations, since the queen did not experience any feelings for the groom. The wedding took place in 1188, but it did not bring peace to the young woman. For two years, Tamar endured the drunkenness and debauchery of her husband, who also often beat his young wife. Having finally decided to divorce Yuri, she forced him to leave Georgia. The offended and angry prince headed to Constantinople to gather a large army and go to war against his wife. However, the war was lost, and Yuri returned to Rus' in disgrace.

The country of the Georgian queen flourished and in a short time became one of the richest powers of that time. Legends were made about Tamar, her beauty, generosity and wisdom were sung. Contemporaries called her a king (“mepe”), and not a queen (“dedopali”). The ruler built fortresses, roads, ships and schools. She invited the best scientists, poets, philosophers, historians and theologians. So one day the great Shota Rustaveli arrived at her palace.

The poet was born in Rustavi and was educated first in the monasteries of Georgia, then in Athens. It is believed that he immediately fell in love with the queen. Some believe that, responding to the poet’s feelings, Tamar became his mistress. However, judging by other sources, most likely the poet never achieved reciprocity, loving and honoring his queen in secret.

Shota became the queen's personal treasurer. But it was not financial matters that worried the poet. He wanted to glorify his beloved Tamar in a poem. The poem “The Knight in the Tiger's Skin” became one of the most outstanding works of the Middle Ages. In it, the lover Shota sang the ideals of love, friendship, nobility, honor and virtue. The poet saw all these high qualities in his great ruler.

It is believed that the poet copied the prototype of the main character of Nestan-Darejana’s poem from his beloved queen. In order to hide his feelings and not bring a shadow of doubt to his beloved, Rustaveli specially moved the action of the poem to India and Arabia. But in every line of the masterpiece one can discern the image of the beautiful, majestic Queen Tamar and the feelings of the unfortunate poet, intoxicated with unrequited love.
The pearls of her rosy lips
under the ruby cover
Even the stone is broken
with a soft lead hammer!

Royal braids - agates,
The heat on the cheeks is brighter than Lalov's.
He drinks nectar,
who sees the sun?

Shota RUSTAVELI

It's time for Tamara to think about heirs. She decided to marry a trusted man who had known her since childhood. Her second husband was the brave Ossetian commander Prince Soslani, who took the name David in Georgia. Noble and infinitely loving his wife, he brought her long-awaited happiness. A year after the wedding, the queen gave birth to a son, who was named George. A year later, daughter Rusudan was born.

Shota Rustaveli no longer dreamed of Tamara; he decided to leave Georgia forever. He went to Palestine, where he took monastic vows at the Monastery of the Holy Cross.

Tamara died on January 18, 1212 from a serious illness. She was buried in the family crypt in Gelati. Several centuries later, the crypt was opened, but the queen’s remains were not found there. According to legend, when the great ruler was living her last days, she asked that the place of her burial be hidden from people. Tamar did not want her tomb to be found and desecrated by Muslims, who, over many years of struggle, were unable to defeat the Georgian queen. Apparently, Tamar’s ashes were secretly taken out of the monastery, and no one knows where he rests now.

One way or another, chronicles were discovered in the Vatican, according to which the Georgian ruler was allegedly buried in Palestine, in the ancient Georgian monastery of the Holy Cross. As if she so passionately wanted to visit this monastery, but due to numerous wars she did not have time to do this, and therefore bequeathed to take her there after her death. Perhaps, in eternity, Tamara wanted to remain with her faithful poet. The death of Rustaveli is also shrouded in legends. All that is known for sure is that one day the headless body of a Georgian poet was found in a small cell of the monastery. The killer was never found.

Many years later, a fresco depicting an old man was discovered in Jerusalem. It is believed that this is the face of the great Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli. No evidence was found that the Georgian Queen Tamara was buried next to him.

After the death of Tamara, Georgia began to quickly lose its power. Years of prosperity gave way to the difficult years of the Mongol-Tatar yoke, then Turkey seized power over the country.

Now Tamara has been canonized. There are numerous legends about her. In particular, they say that at night she appears to the sick and treats them of serious illnesses.

Tamar went down in Georgian history as a fair and wise queen. The time of her reign is rightly called the Golden Age. Her coronation marked the first time in the country's history that a woman ascended the throne. The name Tamar today is covered in legends; one of the most romantic ones is associated with the name of the famous poet Shota Rustaveli...

Historians are still arguing about what connected Queen Tamar (or Tamara) and the poet Rustaveli. Their relationship was covered in a romantic flair; Tamar favored the talented poet and granted him the position of treasurer at court. He sang about his beloved in the immortal poem “The Knight in the Skin of a Tiger.”

According to the plot of the poem, King Rostevan of Arabia decides that his daughter Tinatina should ascend the throne, since he has no sons. In the preface, Shota Rustaveli points out that his literary creation is a hymn in honor of Queen Tamara: “Let us sing to Queen Tamar, revered holy! I once dedicated wonderfully composed hymns to her.”

Shota Rustaveli sincerely admires Tamar: he describes her beauty, and then his personal qualities and merits on the throne. The poet asserts the equality of men and women, Tamar copes well with the management of the state, which is why she heads it. Rustaveli allegorically describes in the poem Tamar’s behavior on the day of her accession to the throne: following her father’s behests to be a generous and wise ruler, she distributes jewelry and the best horses to the guests present during the feast.

Tamar’s personal life was not easy. The first marriage was political; the young queen was married to the Novgorod prince Yuri Bogolyubsky. This union was unhappy, Yuri turned out to be a drunkard, could raise his hand against Tamar, and two years later the wayward queen decided to divorce. It is significant that Yuri tried to take revenge on his ex-wife by going on a military campaign against Georgia, but Tamar was able to defeat his squad.

Tamar's second marriage turned out to be reliable and strong. The Ossetian prince Soslani became her chosen one, with him Tamar learned the joy of motherhood, they had a son, George, and a daughter, Rusudan. By that time, seeing Tamar’s family happiness, Shota Rustaveli left Georgia and decided to become a monk in Palestine.

There were no more lifetime meetings between Tamar and Shota. However, after her death, the queen left a mystery for historians: she ordered to hide the burial place of her ashes. According to one version, from the Gelati family crypt, her ashes were secretly transferred to Palestine, to the same monastery of the Holy Cross where Shota Rustaveli lived out his life. Evidence of this is allegedly preserved in chronicles kept in the Vatican. Who knows, perhaps after her death the great queen wanted to remain close to the poet who sang her praises.

Read about how wisely Queen Tamara ruled the state in our review.

Shta Rustaveli(Georgian, about 1172-1216) - Georgian statesman and poet of the 12th century. He is considered the author of the textbook epic poem “The Knight in the Tiger’s Skin” (translated as “The Knight in the Leopard’s Skin”).

Biography

Biographical information about the poet is extremely scarce. His surname comes from the village of Rustavi, where he was allegedly born, and some see the location of the village of Rustavi near Akhaltsikhe, others in Karayazakh.

Meanwhile, Shota himself writes his last name not “Rustaveli”, but “Rustveli”; this indicates that Shota does not come from a specific village of Rustavi.

If we add to all this that we do not know for certain either the time of Rustaveli’s birth or the year of his death, then it becomes clear how careful we must be with the available data about Rustaveli.

However, the most common version is that he apparently received the nickname “Rustaveli” from his place of birth in the village of Rustavi. There were several geographical points with the name Rustavi in that era. According to some sources, the poet belonged to a famous family and was the owner of the Rustavi majorate.

Some information regarding the personality of Rustaveli can be gleaned from the introduction to his poem, which states that it was written in praise of Queen Tamara. In the final lines of “The Knight...” the poet declares that he is a Meskh. He studied in Greece, then was the treasury guard of Queen Tamara (his signature was found on an act of 1190). This was the time of Georgia's political power and the flourishing of lyric poetry at the magnificent court of the young queen, with signs of medieval knightly service.

Some historical data can be gleaned from the Synodic (memorial book) of the Monastery of the Cross in Jerusalem. A 13th century record mentions Shota, naming his position at court. In the monastery itself there is a fresco portrait (from the first half of the 13th century) of a nobleman in secular clothes, and the inscription there mentions “Rustaveli.” From this we can conclude that Rustaveli was a dignitary who provided great support to the monastery.

Familiar with the poems of Homer and the philosophy of Plato, theology, the principles of literature and rhetoric, Persian and Arabic literature, Rustaveli devoted himself to literary activity and wrote the poem “The Knight in the Tiger’s Skin,” the beauty and pride of Georgian writing. According to one legend, hopelessly in love with his mistress, he ended his life in a monastery cell. It is reported that Timothy, Metropolitan of Georgia in the 18th century, saw in Jerusalem, in the Church of St. The cross, built by the Georgian kings, the grave and the portrait of Rustaveli, in the hair shirt of the ascetic. According to another version, Rustaveli, in love with the queen, however, marries some Nina and soon after the wedding receives from the “lady of ideal worship” an order to translate into Georgian the literary gift presented to her by the defeated Shah. Having completed the assignment brilliantly, he refuses the reward for his work. A week after this, his headless corpse was found. To this day, there are many legends about Rustaveli and his relationship with Queen Tamara.

According to legend, Catholicos John, who patronized the poet during the life of the queen, then began the persecution of Rustaveli. According to legends, he went to Jerusalem, where he was buried, but these legends are not supported by facts.

Already in the 18th century, Patriarch Anthony I publicly burned several copies of “The Knight in the Tiger Skin,” printed in 1712 by King Vakhtang VI.

Poem "The Knight in Tiger Skin" the pen of Shota Rustaveli is a phenomenon for all world literature, for the values that the poet defends are dear to everyone: this is loyalty to the word and friendship, courage, love.

At the same time, Rustaveli’s poem is deeply national, although among its main characters there are no Georgians at all, and Shota himself wrote that he translated an Iranian legend into Georgian verse. Thus, it is possible that Rustaveli is not a poet, but a talented translator of the Persian poem.

"This story, brought from Iran long ago,

It rolled through people's hands like a grain of pearl."

Translations

Complete translations of "The Knight in the Tiger's Skin" are available in Russian, German (Leist, "Der Mann im Tigerfelle", Leipzig, 1880), French ("La peau de lopard", 1885), English, Arabic, Azerbaijani, Armenian, Ossetian, Spanish, Italian, Ukrainian (“The Knight in the Tiger’s Skin”, 1937, Mykola Bazhan), Chinese, Kurdish, Persian, Japanese, Chuvash (2008, translated by Yukhma Mishsha), Hebrew, Hindi, etc. In Polish there are two complete text - translated in 1960 from the Russian translation by Nikolai Zabolotsky and translation from the Georgian original edition of King Vakhtang VI, carried out in 1976 by Jerzy Zagorsky.

cargo. შოთა რუსთაველი

Georgian statesman and poet of the 12th century

OK. 1172 - 1216

short biography

An outstanding Georgian poet, statesman, author of the greatest literary monument - the poem “The Knight in the Skin of a Tiger”. Information about his life is scarce and not confirmed by historical documents. It is believed that he was born around 1172 (other sources give figures of 1160-1166). Most likely, Rustaveli’s nickname was associated with his small homeland - the village of Rustavi, of which there were several with that name at that time. It is possible that he was a descendant of a famous ancient family and was the owner of the Rustavi primogeniture.

It is known that he received his education in Greece and was state treasurer at the court of Queen Tamara. At this time, Georgia was a politically powerful state in which art flourished at the court, including lyric poetry, which had signs of knightly service. In the Georgian Monastery of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem there is a fresco portrait depicting a nobleman in secular clothing with the inscription "Rustaveli" under the portrait. This gives reason to believe that Rustaveli was a nobleman and supported the monastery.

Shota Rustaveli was not only a wonderful poet, but also an excellent restorer and artist. The above-mentioned Jerusalem monastery was renovated and painted by him. Nevertheless, in world culture the name of Rustaveli is associated primarily with his poetry. It was in literary creativity that he found his calling. His work was helped by his knowledge of Arabic and Persian literature, the foundations of rhetoric and literature, theology, and familiarity with Platonic philosophy and Homeric writings. Rustaveli's lyrical poetry is characterized by aphorism and metaphor. A real masterpiece of not only national, but also world literature is the poem “The Knight in the Skin of a Tiger” - a hymn to patriotism, service to the fatherland, friendship and love.

There is no reliable information about the death of Shota Rustaveli, as well as about many other things in his biography. The poet’s relationship with Queen Tamara also became the object of numerous legends. One of the legends says that an unrequited feeling for her led Rustaveli to the monastic cell. Another legend claims that, despite his love for the queen, Rustaveli got married, and some time after the wedding, Queen Tamara ordered him to translate into Georgian a literary gift - a poem that the Shah presented to her. Refusal of a reward for a job well done cost him his life: a week later his headless corpse was discovered. There is also a legend that after the death of Queen Tamara, Rustaveli fell into disgrace from Catholicos John, who had previously patronized him. This forced the poet to go to Jerusalem, where he spent the rest of his life. It is believed that he died around 1216.

Biography from Wikipedia

Shota Rustaveli(Georgian შოთა რუსთაველი, about 1172-1216) - Georgian statesman and poet of the 12th century. He is considered the author of the textbook epic poem “The Knight in the Tiger’s Skin” (translated as “The Knight in the Leopard’s Skin”).

Biographical information about the poet is extremely scarce. There is a widespread version that his surname comes from the village of Rustavi, where he was allegedly born, and some see the location of the village of Rustavi near Akhaltsikhe, others in Karayazakh.

Meanwhile, Shota himself writes his last name not “Rustaveli”, but “Rustveli”; this may indicate that Shota does not come from a specific village of Rustavi. There were several geographical locations with the name Rustavi in that era.

There is also a version that Rustaveli is rather a nickname that was given to Shota’s father, who allegedly owned the Rustavi Majorate and came from an influential wealthy family; The poet's real surname is different.

The exact dates of birth and death of the poet, his origin, and many places in his biography are still unknown. Almost nothing is known about Rustaveli's father; there are no reliable facts that Rustaveli had brothers and/or sisters; Nothing is known about the mother at all. And although in the final lines of “The Knight in Tiger Skin” the poet declares that he is a Meskh, this in no way allows us to speak confidently about Shota’s Meskhetian origin. It is likely that he could have made such a statement under the influence of his environment, as happened with some famous people.

He studied in Greece, then was the treasury guard of Queen Tamara (his signature was found on an act of 1190). This was the time of Georgia's political power and the flourishing of lyric poetry at the magnificent court of the young queen, with signs of medieval knightly service.

Already in the 18th century, Patriarch Anthony I publicly burned several copies of “The Knight in the Tiger Skin,” printed in 1712 by King Vakhtang VI.

Translations

Complete translations of “The Knight in the Tiger’s Skin” are available in Russian, German (Leist, “Der Mann im Tigerfelle”, Leipzig, 1880), French (“La peau de léopard”, 1885), English, Arabic, Azerbaijani, Armenian, Ossetian, Spanish, Italian, Ukrainian (“The Knight in the Skin of the Tiger”, 1937, Mykola Bazhan), Chinese, Kurdish, Kyrgyz, Persian, Japanese, Chuvash (2008, translated by Yukhma Mishsha), in Hebrew, Hindi, etc. There are two complete texts - translated in 1960 from the Russian translation by Nikolai Zabolotsky and a translation from the Georgian original as edited by King Vakhtang VI, carried out in 1976 by Jerzy Zagorsky.

In Russian there are 5 complete poetic translations of the poem (Konstantin Balmont, 1933; Panteleimon Petrenko, 1937; Georgiy Tsagareli, 1937; Shalva Nutsubidze, 1937; Nikolai Zabolotsky, 1957) and dozens of its editions. There is also a line-by-line translation by S. G. Iordanishvili, which passed from hand to hand in typewritten form for a long time until it was published in 1966 (N. Zabolotsky, in particular, resorted to this line-by-line translation), republished in 2015 with detailed comments and accompanying articles.

From the 30s to the 80s of the 20th century, excerpts from the poem were often translated and published many times in all languages of the peoples of the USSR and the countries of the socialist camp.

Memory

The name of Rustaveli was given to the Georgian Drama Theatre, the Theater Institute in Tbilisi, and the Research Institute of Georgian Literature of the Georgian Academy of Sciences. In the USSR, the name was given to the Batumi State Pedagogical Institute.
The following are named after Rustaveli:
- Main Avenue, airport and metro station in Tbilisi;
- A street in the center of Yerevan, as well as many streets in many cities in Georgia and the former Soviet Union. For example, the central streets of Kiev, Bishkek, Tashkent and Kharkov, Lvov, outlying streets in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Vladikavkaz, Omsk, Ufa, Chelyabinsk, Tula, Rostov-on-Don, Stavropol, Karaganda, Mariupol, Odessa and Sumy bear the name Shota Rustaveli
- Street in Jerusalem on which the Monastery of the Holy Cross is located;
- One of the peaks of the Bezengi Wall of the Caucasus is Shota Rustaveli Peak.
Postage stamps dedicated to Rustaveli were issued in the USSR.
In the 1930s in the USSR, the State Porcelain Factory produced a porcelain figurine dedicated to Rustaveli.