Ilia Chavchavadze – Son of Alazani

Rivers are often the fate of people. All the more so for a writer, for whom the river may even become a metaphorical face-symbol of his life. The birth and childhood of Ilia Chavchavadze was connected to Kvareli and the Alazani river. From here began the long and meritorious road to Tsitsamuri - to Golgotha, which became the Golgotha of Georgia, and Kvareli got the name of Bethlehem in the memory of the Georgian people. Ilya's name and his martyrdom added sacred significance to Kvareli and Alazani. Alazani is symbolic of Jordan, where the child Ilya "received the light" and this light followed him. He is the holy myrrh of Ilya's life and the blesser of the road. It is no coincidence that Vazha-Pshavela called Ilia Chavchavadze the son of Alazani in his magnificent proposal. His mind nourished from Native Kakheti and Alazani. Arthur Laist refers to Ilya's native Kvareli and his surroundings as a "light-lit" world, towards which a person's heart and eyes are drawn mentally, "...which, as if in the distance, something in an unknown direction passes before one's eyes, Ilia Chavchavadze's eyes aspired during his childhood, and later his thoughts were constantly searching for light in the mental country and the future of his homeland" (Laist, 1963:246). Arthur Laist refers to Ilya's native Kvareli and his surroundings as a "light-lit" world, towards which a person's heart and eyes are drawn mentally. "...Eyes, Ilia Chavchavadze's eyes aspired during his childhood, and later his thoughts were constantly searching for light in the mental country and the future of his homeland" (Laist, 1963:246). Alazani, the river of childhood, is a river of light... From childhood and youth, Ilya was followed by that light, which he longed for the future of his homeland all his life. There was no field left for which Ilya did not leave his mark. Through his life and work, he was the Spiritual father of the nation, The uncrowned king of Georgia, Moses the prophet and a strong oak... A great reformer of Georgian public life.