Origins & Early Life

Shota Rustaveli (Georgian: შოთა რუსთაველი, c. 1160 – after c. 1220), known mononymously as Rustaveli, was a medieval Georgian poet. He is considered to be the pre-eminent poet of the Georgian Golden Age and one of the greatest contributors to Georgian literature.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

Rustaveli was the author of The Knight in the Panther's Skin, a Georgian national epic poem. Little, if anything, is known about Rustaveli from contemporary sources. Shota Rustaveli was born in 1160. He started serving Queen Tamar as a Minister of Finance in 1191. His poem itself, namely the prologue, provides a clue to his identity: the poet identifies himself as "a certain Rustveli." "Rustveli" is not a surname, but a territorial epithet that can be interpreted as "of/from/holder of Rustavi"; although a 10th century manuscript fragment found in 1975 in Saint Catherine's Monastery in Sinai attests to its use as a cognomen by a noble house of Ru(i)staveli.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Later Georgian authors from the 15th through 18th centuries are more informative; they are almost unanimous in identifying him as Shota Rustaveli, a name that is preserved on a fresco and a document from the formerly Georgian Monastery of the Holy Cross at...

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