New Material for Studies of Figurants of Personal Letters by Nikoloz Baratashvili

Abstract

"Memoirs of 60 Years" of Ivane Tsitsishvili, a famous researcher, bibliographer,  and ethnographer (1881-1945) was published as a book in 2018. It is kept in the form of five manuscript notebooks at the Giorgi Leonidze State Museum of Georgian Literature. The book was published by Tsitsishvili›s descendant, Mrs. Natela Estate, Tsitsishvili.

These memories are mainly family chronicles. His acquaintance assures us that we are dealing with a highly attentive historical source. It provides abundant and interesting materials about the famous Tsitsishvili family of Kartli and its worthy representatives. The memoirs are also dedicated to other Kartli dignitaries close to the Tsitsishvilis (Eristavi, Baratashvilis, Machabelis), historical figures, who left their mark on the public life of Georgia in the XIX-XX centuries.

Among these personalities are those who belonged to Nikoloz Baratashvili's circle of acquaintances and mentioned in the personal letters of the romantic poet. We should note that the information provided by the memoirist about them is unknown to researchers, has not yet been reflected in recent studies on Nikoloz Baratashvili›s epistolary legacy, and is a new material for exploring the poet›s acquaintances and contemporary society.

People mentioned in the poet›s letters actively participated in the public and political life of the country and historical events such as the conspiracy of 1832, the war of the Russian Empire against the Caucasus Mountains, the creation of Georgian militias and battles, the Guria uprising of 1841, so on. The significance of each newly discovered source and the presented research will become even more prominent for both Georgian literary criticism and historical science.

The mentioned memoirs contain information about Nikoloz Baratashvili's close relatives and lovers. This time we will focus on the stories and episodes described in the Memoirs that concern the families of the poet›s sisters Sophia and Barbara. At the same time, these persons are the figures of Nikoloz Baratashvili's many important personal letters, and the research thus conducted is a continuation of the study of the poet's epistolary heritage.