Sandro Ilich Shanshiashvili

Born July 13 (25), 1888, in the village of Dzhugaani, in what is now Signakhi Raion, Georgian SSR; died Oct. 28, 1979, in Tbilisi. Soviet Georgian writer. Honored Art Worker of the Georgian SSR (1930).

Shanshiashvili took part in the revolutionary movement and was arrested. From 1911 to 1914 he studied in Switzerland, and later he attended lectures at the universities of Berlin and Leipzig. Beginning in 1922 he contributed to the journal Drosha (The Banner) and helped build Soviet culture.

Shanshiashvili began writing in 1904. His early plays, notably Anzor (staged 1928), The Three (1931), and New Roots (published 1951), brought him popularity and literary recognition. In 1949, Shanshiashvili was awarded the State Prize of the USSR for the plays Arsen (staged 1936), The Heroes of Krtsanisi (staged 1942), and Imeretian Nights (1948). The drama Arsen depicts the struggle of the Georgian peasants against feudal tyranny and colonial policy, and The Heroes of Krtsanisi deals with the struggle of the Georgian people against the Iranian conquerors. The struggle of the Georgian proletariat at the barricades in the Revolution of 1905–07 is portrayed in the play Arsen Dzhordzhiashvili (1956). Shanshiashvili’s works were important in the development of Soviet Georgian theater.

Shanshiashvili was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.