Bodenstedt Friedrich

Friedrich von Bodenstedt (22 April 1819, Peine—18 April 1892, Wiesbaden) was a German writer, a representative of late, epigonic Romanticism.

In 1841, Prince Golitsyn invited him to Moscow to educate his children, and in 1844, the Governor-General of the Caucasus, A. Neidgardt, invited him to Georgia to teach French at the Tbilisi Gymnasium. During his time there, Bodenstedt traveled extensively, visiting regions of Georgia. He collected material for his book "The Peoples of the Caucasus and Their Struggle for Freedom Against Russia," which was published in Germany in 1848. In this book, Bodenstedt explores Georgia's past, providing information about Queen Tamar. His travels in Georgia are also mentioned in his book "A Thousand and One Days in the East" (vol. 1–2, 1849–50).

Bodenstedt further enriched the knowledge gained from the works of other travelers and scholars by his own observations. The book contains impressions of his travels, depictions of nature, descriptions of historical monuments, and gives the stories from history, introduces folklore, and legends. In the same book he also presented the poetic figure of Mirza Shafi (Vazeh), whose works enjoyed great popularity in Europe, especially after Bodenstedt published his new book "Songs of Mirza Shafi" (1851).

Bodenstedt's work was translated into nearly all European languages and became the subject of one of the most famous literary dispute. After the publication of the book, Bodenstedt gave out the poems of Mirza Shafi for his original work. However, there were other speculations. Actually these poems were a brilliant translation of writings of the Persian-speaking Azerbaijani poet, similar to the translations made by Bodenstedt of the poems poetry of Hafiz and Omar Khayyam into German. "Songs of Mirza Shafi" includes the poetry on wine, roses, love, Tbilisi, fine aphorisms, maxims, satires, etc. Bodenstedt, factually preserved both the poet's name and his works, especially since no complete poems of Mirza Shafi remained in the original Persian.

At the same time, Bodenstedt wrote an original cycle of poems about Tbilisi: "Morning in Tbilisi," "The Rose of Tbilisi," "Georgia," "Do Not Be Angry with Me," "Only for You," "Nino," and others. He is also the author of the poem "Ada, a Lek Woman" (1853), "Poems" (1852–59), Memories (1888–90), the tragedy "Dimitri" (1856), and more.

Literary works: ათას ერთი დღე აღმოსავლეთში, თარგმ., შესავალი და კომენტ. ა. გელოვანისა, თბ., 1965.

A. Gelovani