Aleksei Gogua

Aleksei Gogua (born March 15, 1932, Gup, Abkhazia, Georgia, U.S.S.R. [now Abkhazia, Georgia]) is an Abkhazian writer credited with introducing the psychological novel to Abkhazian literature.

Gogua grew up in Abkhazia and began publishing in the late 1940s. He graduated from the Gorky Literary Institute in Moscow in 1960. He is best known as a prose writer, and much of his work deals with historical themes, chronicling life in Abkhazia in both prerevolutionary and Soviet times. The publication of his first collection of short stories, The River Runs to the Sea (1957), was followed by other Abkhaz-language collections, including The Beautiful Mountain (1975) and It Is Already Possible to Make Out the Person Standing in Front (1990). Russian-language editions of his stories include The Taste of Water (1978), Beyond Seven Stones (1984), and The Wild Azalea (1989).

Among the novels Gogua wrote in Abkhaz is Halo (1966), which focuses on 24 hours in the life of an Abkhazian peasant. His writing in these novels is rich in symbolism and allegory, lyrical and philosophical digressions, and dense, highly intellectual language. His prose often takes a stream-of-consciousness form, and his probing of the psychology of his characters represented a new direction in Abkhazian literature.

Gogua avoided involvement in Soviet politics until 1988, during the perestroika years, when he became a member of the Soviet Congress of People’s Deputies for Abkhazia. At the same time, he also became the first president of Aidgylara (Abkhaz: “Unity”; also called the Abkhazian Popular Forum), a political organization that pressed for Abkhazian independence.