Iza Orjonikidze
Iza Orjonikidze (Georgian: იზა ორჯონიკიძე) (November 21, 1938 – February 9, 2010) was a Georgian poet and literary scholar who was also member of the Parliament of Georgia from 1992 to 1995.
Born in Tbilisi, the capital of then-Soviet Georgia, Orjonikidze graduated from the Moscow State University with a degree in philology in 1965. In 1976, she was appointed the director of Leonidze Museum of Georgian Literature, a position she held until 1982 and again from 1989 to 1990 and from 1991 to 2010. In 1989, Orjonikidze was a member of the special commission investigating the actions of the Soviet military against the pro-independence demonstrations in Georgia on April 9, 1989.[1] After Georgia’s independence from the Soviet Union, she was elected to the parliament for Tbilisi's Saburtalo district from 1992 to 1995.[2]
Orjonikidze published several collections of her poetry and prose. She received several literary and civic awards, including the Shota Rustaveli State Prize and the Order of Honour. She died after a long illness in Tbilisi at the age of 71.[3]
References
- ↑ Party Chief in Soviet Georgia Admits Some Died From Gas. The New York Times. April 25, 1989. Retrieved 2012-01-19.
- ↑ Orjonikidze Iza. Parliament of Georgia. Retrieved 2012-01-19.
- ↑ Georgian writer dies at 71. The Georgian Times. February 9, 2010. Retrieved 2012-01-19.