Gaponov Boris

Boris (Dov) Gaponov (February 20, 1934, Eupatoria, Crimea region – July 25, 1972, Ramathgan, Israel) was a Jewish poet and translator. He was a full member of the Israeli National Academy and a winner of the State Prize of Rustaveli (1989, posthumously). Since 1941, the Gaponov family lived in Gali, for a short time in the village of Velistsikhe in the Gurjaani district, and in 1946, they settled in Kutaisi. In 1953, he graduated from the 9th Public School in Kutaisi and enrolled at the Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies the same year. In 1955, he returned to Kutaisi. From 1971, he lived in Israel. He learned several Eastern and European languages and independently mastered the Georgian language. He wrote stories and poems. The translation of The Knight in the Panther's Skin marked a new phase in his life. He studied and analyzed the pre-Rustaveli culture and familiarized himself with the main works of Rustaveli scholarship (Rustvelology). To understand the specifics of both the Georgian and Hebrew languages, he thoroughly studied the Bible as well as the Georgian translation. In 1969, he delivered a lecture titled “Biblical Motifs in Rustaveli’s Work” at the Institute of Asian Peoples in Leningrad (published in 1979, Matsne. Language and Literature Series, No. 2, pp. 174–180).

He completed his translation of The Knight in the Panther's Skin in November 1966. Gaponov's translation of the poem was recognized as a significant event, greatly contributing to the refinement of contemporary Hebrew poetic and linguistic structures. His poetic talent, linguistic intuition, mastery of artistic technique, truly Rustavelian attitude toward words, and profound understanding of native poetry make his translation essentially congruent with the original text (Z. Kiknadze). The translation retains the grandeur of the original text, both in terms of meaning and artistic expression.

The translation was published in 1969 (Merhavia–Tel Aviv). The edition, printed on specially prepared yellowed paper with illustrations by Mamuka Tavakarashvili, gives the publication the appearance of an 800-year-old manuscript.

For his translation of The Knight in the Panther's Skin, Gaponov was awarded two national prizes in Israel—the Shmuel Chernikhovski Prize in 1969 and the President's Prize in 1971.

Translation: შოთა რუსთაველი, 'ოტე 'ორ ჰანამერ (ა. შლონსკის რედაქციითა და ა. ბარამიძის ბოლოსიტყვაობით), მერხავია–თელ-ავივი, 1969.

Literature: გაგულაშვილი ი., მადლი სიყვარულისა, ქუთ., 1985.

N. Babalikashvili

I. Gagulashvili