The Austrian pacifist, peace researcher and writer Bertha von Suttner, born Countess Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau, was the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The years she spent in Georgia are particularly important for German-Georgian literary relations. After she married Count Arthur Gundaccar von Suttner in 1876, against his parents' wishes, the couple moved to the Caucasus to live with Princess Ekatarina Dadiani of Mingrelia for more than eight years, from 1876 to 1885, where they lived under difficult financial circumstances. Bertha eked out a living as a language teacher, writing light novels and translations. Together with her husband Arthur, she helped the Georgian writer Iona Meunargia translate the Georgian national epic The Recke im Tigerfell by Shota Rustaveli into German.
Other than that, little is known of Bertha von Suttner's life from her time in Georgia. However, some materials from this period have been preserved in the palace of Prince Dadiani of Samegelo and in the museum of Zugdidi (Georgia). From the perspective of German-Georgian literary relations, the couple remains significant to this day.
Recently, Arthur von Suttner's book The Adjars, first published in 1890 by the Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, has been translated into Georgian and edited. The evening will bring to light lesser-known details of Bertha and Arthur von Suttner's life in Samegrelo.
Moderator: Prof. Manana Tandashvili, Lecture: Prof. Alexander Kartosia.
Text source and further information about this event: http://www.romanfabrik.de/program/text-sound-theme/
