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Dadiani Shalva (დადიანი)
(1874—1959)

Shalva Dadiani was a Georgian novelist, playwright, and a theatre actor.

Born in Zestaponi, western Georgia (then Kutais Governorate of Imperial Russia), into the family of a writer and translator Prince Nikoloz Dadiani (1844-1896), a member of the Dadiani noble family. His first collection of poems appeared in 1892, followed by a series of short stories published in the magazine Iveria in the late 1890s. Dadiani began his theatrical career in 1893 and quickly became a close collaborator of V. Aleksi-Meskhishvili at the Kutaisi Theatre. In 1908, he formed «Mobile Troupe», a peripatetic theatre of revolutionary propaganda, which toured in various cities of Georgia, as well as Baku and Novorossiysk, and staged, among others, Gorky’s «The Last», a play censored by the Russian authorities. Dadiani, as a playwright, emerged during the revolutionary turmoil of 1905-7, heavily influenced by the works of Gorky. At the same time, Dadiani engaged in historical prose in the patriotic traditions of Vasil Barnovi, and authored the memorable «George the Rus» (1916-1926), the dishonored and ousted 12th-century Rus’ consort of Georgia. After the establishment of Soviet rule in Georgia (1921), Dadiani’s works were either tacitly hostile to the new regime, or remained apolitical. However, Dadiani never let his narrative ingenuity to endanger his future by oppositionist writings, and his later novels and plays glorified Stalin.

He joined the Communist Party later in his life (1945) and was elected to the Supreme Soviet of Soviet Union. He became People's Artist of the Georgian SSR in 1923, and was decorated with a number of Soviet awards, including the Order of Lenin.

USSR, 1974.05.21, Tbilisi. Birth centenary of Dadiani

USSR, 1974, Shalva Dadiani