- Gerzel Baazov
Gerzel Baazov ( _ka. გერცელ ბააზოვი) (
October 28 ,1904 –September 12 ,1938 ) was a Georgian Jewish poet and playwright who fell victim toStalin ’sGreat Purges .He was born in
Oni, Georgia (then part of theRussian Empire ) into the family of the leading GeorgianZionist David Baazov . At the age of 14, he published his first poems under thepenname of Ger-Bi (1918). In the 1920s, he systematically published poems, historical stories and journalistic essays in Georgian-Jewish press and garnered acclaim with his Georgian translation ofSong of Songs in 1924. In 1925, he organized a Tbilisi-based Georgian-Jewish dramatic troupe "Kadima" and began writing plays depicting the life of the Georgian Jews. In 1927, he graduated from the Faculty of Law,Tbilisi State University , and briefly served as a lawyer.Through his 1928 play "Dilleamari" (დილლეამარი), Baazov established himself as a leading writer in Georgian on Jewish themes. He was the first Jewish writer to introduce the subject matter of the life-style, character, and routine life of Georgian Jews into Georgian literature. In an amazingly brief period, Baazov wrote ten plays (notably "The Mutes Began to Speak" [მუნჯები ალაპარაკდნენ, 1931] , "Without Respect of Persons" [განურჩევლად პიროვნებისა, 1933] , "
Itska Rizhinashvili " [იცკა რიჟინაშვილი, 1936] , etc.), most of which became standard items in Georgian repertory in the 1930s. Early in the 1930s, he conceived a trilogy on the Georgian Jews, the first part of which – "Pethaim" – appeared in Georgian (ფეთხაინი, 1934) and Russian (Петхайн, 1936). His prolific work was terminated by theSoviet political repressions underJoseph Stalin . In 1937, he was arrested inMoscow and extradited to Tbilisi where he was either shot or tortured to death during the interrogation. He was posthumously rehabilitated in 1955. A street in his native Oni has been named after Gerzel Baazov.References
* [http://www.everyculture.com/Russia-Eurasia-China/Georgian-Jews-Sociopolitical-Organization.html Georgian Jews] . "World Culture Encyclopedia". Retrieved on
August 8 ,2007 .
*ru icon [http://www.eleven.co.il/?mode=article&id=10364&query= Баазов Герцль] . "Online Jewish Encyclopedia". Retrieved onAugust 8 ,2007 .
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