The Little Polish Book of Tbilisi, 2024
Publication
‘On one side of Freedom Square in Tbilisi stands a bronze bust of Alexander Pushkin on a stone plinth, originally unveiled in 1892. As a 21-year old, Pushkin was sent into exile for expressing ‘political humour’ in his poems and spent some years here. It is the oldest surviving monument in the city, and was made by Polish sculptor Feliks Chodorowicz. In 1864, he was expelled from his studies at the Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in Moscow, drafted into the army and sent to the Caucasus for expressing sympathy with the January Uprising in his motherland. He was 24 years old. After this service he remained in Tbilisi for the rest of his life. He was not alone. When an English traveler, James Bryce, arrived in the city in the autumn of 1876 he commented on the diversity of people he encountered, noting: ‘There are, besides Poles, plenty of Frenchmen, hotelkeepers, upholsterers, dyers and cleaners of cloth, confectioners, and, above all, hairdressers. So strangely mixed a population it would be hard to find anywhere, even in the East.’ The phrase he uses – ‘besides Poles’ – suggests there were indeed a great many of them to be found hereabouts.
‘The Little Polish Book of Tbilisi’ tells the story of the Polish diaspora in the capital of Georgia over the last two centuries. Reflecting on contemporary conversions with both Poles and Georgians living or working here, the book explores the streets of the this fascinating city, both as a historical account and a practical guide.
Commissioned by Insytut Polski w Tbilisi, the book was launched at Tbilisi International Book Festival 2024, with Poland as the featured focus country.
An article setting the scene appeared in a rather wonderful Polish cultural magazine Herito: https://herito.pl/en/magazyn/herito-46-47-en/