ILIA CHAVCHAVADZE

ILIA CHAVCHAVADZE (wikimedia)

IF WE WRITE THE WORD "HERO" IN GOOGLE AND SEARCH FOR ITS MEANING, WE'LL SEE THAT A HERO (MASCULINE) OR HEROINE (FEMININE) IS A PERSON OR MAIN CHARACTER OF A LITERARY WORK WHO, IN THE FACE OF DANGER, COMBATS ADVERSITY THROUGH IMPRESSIVE FEATS OF INGENUITY, BRAVERY OR STRENGTH, OFTEN SACRIFICING THEIR OWN PERSONAL CONCERNS FOR A GREATER GOOD. HOW MANY HEROES DO WE KNOW? RIGHT, WE CAN'T EVEN COUNT. WHY DO WE CALL THEM HEROES? WHAT ARE THEIR MAIN VALUES? EVEN IF I'M SO PROUD THAT I'M FROM GEORGIA, IT'S TOO BAD THAT PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD HAVE NO OPPORTUNITY TO KNOW ABOUT NUMEROUS MEN OF COURAGE FROM MY COUNTRY. SO THIS IS THE REASON WHY I'M WRITING THIS TOPIC. I'LL TRY TO TELL YOU ABOUT THE GREATEST GEORGIAN HERO AND MY IDOL, WHOSE NAME IS ILIA CHAVCHAVADZE. WHEN WE MENTION "HERO", PROBABLY WE ALL THINK ABOUT PEOPLE WHO SACRIFICED THEMSELVES FOR OTHER PEOPLE, OR THEIR COUNTRIES MAYBE.. IF WE DECIDE TO COUNT QUANTITY OF POPULAR NATIONAL HEROES, A NIGHT WON'T BE ENOUGH TO GET TO THE END. THEY ARE SO MANY PEOPLE, WE CAN CALL HEROES. THERE ARE SO MANY HEROES THAT ARE WORLD-FAMOUS.

MY HERO WAS NOT A SOLDIER, OR A KING. HE WAS A WRITER, LIVING IN 19TH CENTURY. IN 19TH CENTURY, GEORGIAN REGIONS, ACHARA, ARDAGANI AND KHARSI WERE OWNED BY RUSSIA. OTHER PARTS OF COUNTRY WERE SEPARATED. THE ONLY THINGS THAT WERE OVERALL FOR GEORGIAN PEOPLE, WERE GEORGIAN LANGUAGE AND BELIEF. RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA WAS GETTING STRONGER AND STRONGER. IN SHORT, LET'S SAY GEORGIANS HAD ONLY ONE RIGHT, TO CRY... BUT IT ALSO IN RUSSIAN. RUSSIA WAS HUGE. GEORGIA WAS TINY AND SEPARATED. TAKING THE SWORD AND FIGHTING WAS NOT A SOLUTION. SO ILIA TOOK A PEN. PEOPLE HOLDING THE SAME VIEW (ILIA AND HIS LIKE MINDEDS) WERE CALLED "TERGDALEULEBI", BECAUSE MOST OF THEM STUDIED IN RUSSIA, AND THEY HAD TO CROSS RIVER "TERGI" TO COME BACK TO GEORGIA. BEING DISSENTER AND EDUCATED, HELPED THEM CREATE A JUDICIOUS PLAN. "TERGDALEULEBI" HAD REALISED HOW WISELY RUSSIA HAD BEEN TRYING TO SWALLOW THEIR HOMELAND. GEORGIA HAD TO SAVE ITSELF FROM DEGENERATION. GEORGIA HAD TO KEEP IT'S EXISTENCE AND LANGUAGE. THERE WERE NO PRESS, NO THEATRE SHOWS IN GEORGIAN. ILIA AND HIS PARTNERS CREATED A MOVEMENT, WHICH HELPED STUDENTS TO BE EDUCATED. SOMETIMES, THERE WERE CASES WHEN ILIA HAD STUDENTS AT HOME, TO GIVE THEM EDUCATION. MAIN ARGUMENT OF GEORGIAN PEOPLE, WHO SUPPORTED RUSSIAN POLITICS, WAS THAT BOTH OF US HAD SAME RELIGION AND THEY WOULD NOT TAKE OUR FAITH. BUT IN FACT, DURING THE CENTURIES, NO ONE HAD EVER ABOLISHED OUR AUTOCEPHALY. PRAYING IN CHURCHES WAS ALLOWED ONLY IN RUSSIAN. BUT MOST OF THE GEORGIANS COULD NOT UNDERSTAND IT. IT WAS THE MAIN PROBLEM. PEOPLE HAD TO REALISE MEANING OF EDUCATION, THEIR WORLD VIEW HAD TO BE BIGGER. SO IT COULD HELP THEM PRESERVE THREE MAIN THINGS. AS ILIA SAID, THEY WERE "LANGUAGE, HOMELAND, BELIEF."

BESIDES BEING A PUBLIC FIGURE, HE WAS A BRILLIANT WRITER AND POET. IF WE READ EVEN ONLY ONE OF HIS STORIES, WE'LL UNDERSTAND HOW GREAT PSYCHOLOGIST AND THINKER HE WAS. PROBLEMS THAT HE UNDERLINED IN HIS WORK IN 19TH CENTURY, ARE STILL ACTUAL. IT MAKES YOU THINK MORE ABOUT THE THINGS YOU STRONGLY BELIEVED IN. IF HE KNEW THAT SOMETHING WAS BAD ABOUT GEORGIA, HE WAS NOT AFRAID TO WRITE ABOUT IT. GOVERNMENT WAS ANONYMOUSLY COUNTER ADVERTISING HIM. THEY SAID ILIA DID NOT LOVE GEORGIA AND THAT WAS THE REASON WHY HE CRITICISED IT. BUT HE RESPONDED IN HIS VERSE THAT IT WAS JUST FOR MAKING PEOPLE REALIZE AND TRY TO FIX PROBLEMS THAT WERE ACTUAL. HE DID NOT WANT PEOPLE TO WEAR PINK GLASSES AND THINK EVERYTHING WAS OKAY.

NATIONAL LIBERATION MOVEMENT, HEADED BY ILIA, IMPROVED AND RENEWED GEORGIAN PRESS, THEATRE, SCIENCE SCHOOL, LITERATURE.. ILIA HAD HIS OWN NEWSPAPER, WHERE HE WAS PRINTING IMPORTANT STATEMENTS, VERSES AND THINGS THAT PEOPLE NEEDED TO KNOW. PEOPLE ALSO CRITICIZED HIM FOR DISFIGURE POETRY. AND THEY WERE PARTICULARLY RIGHT. ILIA WAS USUALLY WRITING ABOUT PROBLEMS AND THINGS THAT WERE IMPORTANT. ILIA SAID THAT BECAUSE OF GEORGIA'S CURRENT CONDITION, THERE WAS NO TIME FOR TAKING CARE OF A SOUL AND WRITING ABOUT FEELINGS. AND AS WE KNOW, A VERSE, WITH RHYTHM AND IT'S CHARM IS A GOOD WAY TO GAIN PEOPLE'S ATTENTION.

GOVERNMENT COULD NOT DO ANYTHING AGAINST ILIA BECAUSE OF HIS AUTHORITY. SO RUSSIANS HIRED PEOPLE, SECRETLY MURDERED HIM AND PHYSICALLY ASSAULTED HIS WIFE, WHO INFORMED SOCIETY ABOUT HIS DEATH. THEY WERE TRAVELING BY A WHEELCHAIR WHEN MURDERERS APPEARED, AIMING THEIR GUNS AT ILIA. HE SAID "-DO NOT SHOOT! I'M ILIA!" BUT ACTUALLY IT WAS THE ONLY REASON WHY HE WAS KILLED. ILIA CALLED PEOPLE TO FIGHT FOR THEIR COUNTRY. FIGHT WITH KNOWLEDGE. FIGHT WITH A PEN, INSTEAD OF A SWORD. HE WAS KILLED, BUT NO ONE COULD KILL WHAT HE LEFT TO PEOPLE'S MIND. THIS IS THE REASON WHY I'M LIVING IN GEORGIA, INDEPENDENT COUNTRY. THIS IS THE REASON WHY I SPEAK GEORGIAN AND THIS IS THE REASON WHY I'M CALLED GEORGIAN. IN THIS WAY, ENEMIES CAN KILL OUR HEROES, DESTROY US, BUT THEY'LL NEVER KILL OUR FAITH. SINCE "PEOPLE ARE NOT AS IMPORTANT AS AN IDEA THAT MOTIVATES THEM."