I remember Sakartvelo as a land of proud women and brave men…’ The observation case file of the poet Pyotr Bagrationi-Gruzinsky

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the personality and works of the poet and scriptwriter Pyotr Bagrationi-Gruzinsky (1920-1984). No monograph has been written about him, nor are his poems included in school curricula. He is famous as a lyricist collaborating with the film studio Gruziya-Film and author of the lyrics for the song Tbiliso, which became the Georgian capital’s anthem. The first collection of his poems and reminiscences about the poet was published in Tbilisi in 2004, twenty years upon his death. The second and more comprehensive collection followed in 2016. The article pays special attention to the poet’s dramatic circumstances in Bolshevik-run Georgia. He was the only direct descendant of the last Georgian tsar of the Kartli-Kakheti dynasty, and this legacy proved fatal. In 1945, he and a group of young Tbilisi-based poets became targets of criminal proceedings when political charges were brought against them. Documents from the case file are published in Russia for the first time. The article includes an interview with the poet’s son Nugzar Bagrationi- Gruzinsky, the head of Georgia’s royal house and a theatre director.