PALH 

AMARSHAN VITALY JOTOVICH 

22.09.1947-24.03.2020


He was born on 22 September 1941 in the village of Jgyarda, Ochamchira district, Abkhazian ASSR.
Abkhazian poet, prose writer. Member of the Union of Writers of the USSR, the Union of Writers of Abkhazia and Russia (1999), then of the Association of Writers of Abkhazia (2003). People's poet of Abkhazia. Honoured Worker of Culture of the Republic of Abkhazia (2015). Laureate of the State Prize of Abkhazia named after D. I. Gulia. D. I. Gulia. Awarded the Order "Akhidz-Apsha" ("Honour and Glory") of the III degree of the Republic of Abkhazia. He wrote in the Abkhazian language.
He lost his father early (he died in 1943). Vitaly and his younger brothers - Valery and Arthur - were brought up and put on their feet by their mother and her older sister.
He graduated from Jgyard High School 1959.
Since 1962 - a student of the Philological Faculty of the Sukhumi State Pedagogical Institute named after A. M. Gorky (in absentia).
In 1965, he left the SSPI and entered the Literary Institute named after A. A. Gorky. A. M. At the Literary Institute he studied poetry at a seminar headed by the famous Russian poet and literary scholar S. S. Narovchatov. His classmate and closest friend was the outstanding Russian poet Yuri Kuznetsov.
Worked as a responsible secretary, then as deputy chief editor of the magazine "Alashara" ("Light"), and as secretary of the Writers' Association of Abkhazia. V. Amarshan began writing poetry early on. His first poems were published in 1962 in the newspaper "Apsny kapsh" ("Red Abkhazia") and the magazine "Alashara" (issue 4). The first publication of his stories was also in the magazine "Alashara" in 1966 (issue 4). The creative works of D. I. Gulia, I. A. Kogonia, B. V. Shinkuba, as well as Russian classics such as A. S. Pushkin, M. Yu. Lermontov, and others played a significant role in the development of the young poet. His works were also published in journals such as "Amtzabz" ("Flame"), "Akua-Sukhum", newspapers "Apsny", "Sovetskaya Abkhazia", "Etswadjaa" ("Constellation"), "Pravda", "Izvestia", "Literary Gazette", "Literary Russia", and others. He has authored numerous poems, epic poems, stories, novels, and essays. He has published over 20 collections of poems and prose works. Many of V. Amarshan's poems and his historical novel about medieval Abkhazia, "Apskha" ("The King of Abkhazia"), have been translated into Russian, Turkish, and other languages. He has translated poems by V. N. Sokolov, S. S. Narovchatov, Z. M. Tkagazitov, I. Sh. Mashbash, K. S.-G. Djegutanov, R. Gamzatov, stories by V. M. Shukshin, G. D. Gulia, E. F. Basaria, the novel by Mark Twain "Adventures of Tom Sawyer", and others, into the Abkhaz language.
Died on 24 March 2020.
Publications in Abkhazian language: 
  • The Heartbeat. Poem. Sukhumi, 1966;
  • The different characters. Stories. Sukhumi, 1967;
  • My destiny. Poems. Sukhumi, 1969;
  • The spring rain. Poem. Sukhumi, 1972;
  • The House Facing East. Stories and short stories. Sukhumi, 1974;
  • The Roll Call. Poems and poems. Sukhumi, 1975;
  • Until the night changes to day. A novel. Sukhumi, 1981;
  • The Land of Bees. Poems and poem. Sukhumi, 1983;
  • The Smile. Stories. Sukhumi, 1986;
  • The winter of my childhood. Poems. Sukhumi, 1988;
  • The Favourites. Poems and poems. Sukhumi, 1991;
  • Apsha. Historical novel. Sukhum, 1994;
  • Uashkhua makiapsys. Historical narrative. Sukhum, 1999;
  • Welcome, Tom Sawyer! Stories, translation, poems. Sukhum, 2002;
  • Collected Works: In 6 volumes. Sukhum, 2005–2010; 
  • Editions in translation into Russian: The Month of Sowing. Poems. М., 1980;
  • Where there are people, there am I. Poems. Sukhumi, 1980;
  • Leon Apsha. Historical novel. Sukhum, 2003;
  • Apsha. A historical novel. (2nd edition). Sukhum, 2012.