Author. He is an Georgian poet and novelist, who will be best remembered for his 1930 novel, "A Woman in the Mirror," which was considered to be one of the first Georgian science fiction novels. He was born as Isaac Chochia to a peasant family in the village of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, Georgia, (some sources say Sachochio (now Abashispiri), near Abasha, Georgia), on August 15, 1884. He was educated locally and later went to Russia where he became involved in the revolutionary activities of the early 1900s including participating in the Russian Revolution of 1905, before he was arrested and exiled to the town of Solvychegodsk, Russia, in 1906. He then returned to his native country of Georgia in 1908 and began his writing career. He chose the pen name of Alexander Abasheli and began writing articles for the local newspapers in Tbilisi, Georgia, beginning in 1910. During this time, he had his first lyrics published first in Russia, and then in his native Georgian language. He came under the influence of Symbolism with his 1913 collection of lyrics entitled, "The Smile Of The Sun" (or "Mzis sitsili"), and this work became known as the "cult of the sun" by critics. An outright hostility towards the Soviet regime was established in the country of Georgia in 1921 and this, in turn, plunged his poetry into decadence characterized by the sense of hopelessness, and disappointment in the revolutionary ideas of his youth. However, with the exacerbation of political repressions in the Soviet Union, he was able to adopt a more conformist line and gradually became fully accommodated to the Soviet ideological dogmas. He was the director of the newspaper publication "Khomaldi" from 1921 to 1922. For his contributions to Georgian literature, he was made a Member of the Cultural Union Committee of Writers and Artists of Transcaucasia in 1929. Besides, "The Smile Of The Sun" in 1913 and "A Woman In The Mirror" in 1930, his other poems and writings include, "Broken Mirror" or "Gabzaruli sarke" (1929), "October Thunder" or "Oktomris kukhili" (1937), "Immortality" or "Ukvdaveba" (1938), "To My Native Land" or "Samshoblosadmi" (1938), and "The Sun And The Motherland" or "Mze da Samshoblo" (1939). During World War II, he wrote: "Stalingrad" or "Stalingradi, "The Khevsurian Tank Crewmember" or "Khevsureli tankisti," and "Heroic Days" or "Gmiiruli dgheebu" (1942), among many others. Several of his poems were translated into many other languages including Russian by Boris Leonidovich Pasternak, the Russian poet, novelist, and literary translator. In 1944, he also collaborated with the Georgian poet Grigol Abashidze in writing the original lyrics for the State Anthem of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic which contained, among other things, a public speech to Joseph Stalin. He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour and the distinguished Medal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945." He continued with his writing until his death. He died in Tbilisi, Georgia, at the age of 70, on September 27, 1954, and was buried in the Didube Cemetery (or Didube Pantheon) in Tbilisi, Georgia, where many other famous Georgian personalities including writers, actors, actresses, singers, and politicians, are laid to rest.