Turmani – this is the name of the book of the modernist writer of the 20th century, Basil Melikishvili , which combines his work with works published in the last century and still unknown.
The book was published with the support of RMG Company and its presentation was held in the National Library of the Parliament of Georgia. The authors and editors of the book are historian and researcher Levan Zhvania and Gia Arganashvili, a scientific employee of the Institute of Literature.
Basil Melikishvili is the author of many excellent artistic texts. His works are loaded with mythological elements, folklore characters and historical past. The writer’s stories and miniatures reflect the difficult situation of the society caused by the loss of statehood.
Basil Melikishvili was arrested in 1924 for his anti-Soviet activities. In Metekhi prison, he fell ill with smallpox. The Soviet authorities included him in the “black list” and banned his literature. The writer who was ill and living in hardship was helped as much as possible by his closest friends: Mikheil Javakhishvili, Geronti Kikodze, Evgeni Kharadze, Giorgi Shatberashvili and others. In 1930, the 26-year-old writer died, he was buried in the village of Pantiani.
After the death of Basil Melikishvili , he was banned for ten more years. In 1975, a small part of his work was published in the underground magazine “Golden Fleece” by Zviad Gamsakhurdia and Merab Kostava.
The book Turmani is the only complete edition, where together with the writer’s works, letters of various famous authors about Basil Melikishvili’s work are printed.
