- Alexander Amilakhvari
Prince Alexander Amilakhvari ( _ka. ალექსანდრე ამილახვარი, "Alek'sandre Amilakhvari"; _ru. Александр Дмитриевич Амилахоров, "Aleksandr Dmitrievich Amilakhorov") (
October 20 ,1750 – 1802) was a Georgian nobleman and author known as a theoretical supporter ofenlightened absolutism , and also for his opposition to KingErekle II ’s rule.A member of one of the leading noble families of Georgia, that of
Amilakhvari , he was involved, together with his father, in a 1765 coup plot aimed at deposing Erekle II in favor of Prince Paata, a pretender to the Georgian throne. After the plot collapsed, he was arrested and mutilated (his nose was cut). In 1771, however, he staged a prison break and fled to theRussian Empire where he joined Prince Alexander, another Georgian pretender-in-exile. With the Russo-Georgian rapprochement, Amilakhvari was arrested by the Russian government at Erekle’s request and cast in theVyborg prison in 1783. The 1801 amnesty granted Amilakhvari freedom and allowed him to return to Georgia. He died on his way back atAstrakhan , however.Amilakhvari’s political pamphlet – "A Georgian History" [Its full Russian title is: История георгианская о юноше князе Амилахорове: С кратким прибавлением истории тамошней земли от начала до нынешняго века, которую рассказывает Усим купец анатольский со товарищами своим между разными известиями.] – published in
St. Petersburg in 1779 relates his own story and describes Georgia’s political and social life of the latter half of the 18th century. At the same time, the author overtly attacks the Georgian autocracy and unleashes criticism on Erekle II, every aspect of whose rule is portrayed extremely negatively. Another of his works "The Sage of the Orient" (ბრძენი აღმოსავლეთისა) is influenced by some ideas of the contemporaneousFrench Enlightenment and is essentially a project of the reformedKingdom of Georgia based on decentralization of royal authority.Notes
References
*ru icon [http://www.nplg.gov.ge/dlibrary/collect/0001/000075/Istoria_Gruzinskoi_Literaturi.pdf "А. БАРАМИДЗЕ, Ш. РАДИАНИ, В. ЖГЕНТИ". ИСТОРИЯ ГРУЗИНСКОЙ ЛИТЕРАТУРЫ] . АКАДЕМИЯ НАУК ГРУЗИНСКОЙ ССР.
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