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30-562: The pass connects the western and eastern part of Georgia. A railroad (in a tunnel) runs through the pass, as well as the Zestaponi – Khashuri highway. Rail service through Surami Pass was opened in 1872. The rail line was electrified in 1933. This Georgia location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Zestaponi Zestaponi or Zestafoni ( Georgian : ზესტაფონი , romanized : zest'aponi , Georgian pronunciation: [zestʼapʰoni] )

60-669: A large ferro-alloy plant processing manganese ore from nearby Chiatura . Zestaponi is in the Kolkheti lowlands, a semi-tropical region with relatively cold winters averaging −4 °C (25 °F) in January and hot summers averaging 24 °C (75 °F) in August. The surrounding countryside is a wine-growing region. The town of Zestaponi and the smaller neighboring town of Shorapani are industrial centers. The Zestaponi ferro-alloy plant processes raw manganese ore shipped by rail down

90-412: A new author, Anatoly Brusnikin, called Девятный спас ( Devyatny Spas , The Ninth Savior). Despite the fact that Brusnikin was a complete unknown, AST spent lavishly on an advertising campaign for the book, which almost immediately resulted in rumors that Brusnikin might actually be Akunin in a new disguise. The rumors about the authorship of Devyatny Spas were also fueled by the total secrecy surrounding

120-528: A new nom-de-plume. The reason for creating another alter ego was Akunin's desire to write historical novels without a mystery component and to attempt a "Slavophile" look at Russian history in lieu of his usual "Westerner" outlook. The Brusnikin "photograph" was revealed to be a combination of Chkhartishvili's face with the face of a studio designer who made the picture. To date, three Brusnikin novels have been written. Akunin has said he has no definite plans to write more Brusnikin novels, though he remains open to

150-507: Is a Georgian-Russian writer residing in the United Kingdom. He is best known as a writer of historical fiction , specifically his Erast Fandorin detective novels . He is also an essayist and literary translator . Grigory Chkhartishvili has also written under pen names Anatoly Brusnikin , Anna Borisova , and Akunin-Chkhartishvili . His characters include Erast Fandorin, Nicholas Fandorin and Sister Pelagia . Chkhartishvili

180-544: Is from Zestaponi. Zestaponi is twinned with: Zestafoni.Ge 42°06′30″N 43°02′30″E  /  42.10833°N 43.04167°E  / 42.10833; 43.04167 Boris Akunin Grigori Chkhartishvili ( Russian : Григорий Шалвович Чхартишвили , romanized :  Grigoriy Shalvovich Chkhartishvili ; Georgian : გრიგორი ჩხარტიშვილი ), better known by his pen name Boris Akunin ( Russian : Борис Акунин , born 20 May 1956),

210-476: Is living in London . Chkhartishvili has been called by Igor Pomerantsev the "undisputed champion" of Russian crime fiction, given that as Boris Akunin he "has written more than a dozen crime novels and has been widely appreciated by discerning readers ... and has been translated into many languages." Akunin has been critical of Vladimir Putin 's domestic and foreign policies since the invasion of Georgia and

240-705: Is the administrative center of Zestaponi District in Western Georgia . Zestaponi is the center of an ancient, historical part of Georgia – Margveti, which is a part of Imereti province. Zestaponi is the center of Margveti's Eparchy of the Georgian Orthodox Church. Zestaponi is situated in the furthest east of the Colchis Plateau, and is built on both banks of the Qvirila River . It is an important industrial center, with

270-678: The annexation of Crimea . Akunin participated in a fundraiser in 2022 to benefit Russians accused of "discrediting" the Russian army under the Russian 2022 war censorship laws . In December 2023, the pranksters Vovan and Lexus called Akunin and Dmitry Bykov , pretending to be representatives of the Ukrainian Government , and released the recordings of Akunin and Bykov expressing their support for Ukraine. The response in Russia

300-411: The 3rd century BC. The town of Zestaponi is first mentioned in historical records in the 1560s. The name of the city is connected with the bank of river Kvirila ( Georgian : poni ), upper bank ( Georgian : Zeda poni ), that was used by the local population and foreign travelers from ancient times. In the 1820s a Cossack army was posted in the town, which was then called "Kvirila" after

330-537: The Kvirila valley from Chiatura, supplying 6% of world demand. The largest ferroalloy plant in the country, in 1998 it produced 35,000 tonnes of silicomanganese and 11,000 tonnes of medium-carbon manganese alloy. This was well below its previous peak production of 110,000 tonnes of manganese-based alloys. The British steel trading company Stemcor acquired the ferro-alloy plant in February 2006. Two other plants in

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360-847: The Master (following Nicholas Fandorin, Erast's grandson), all published in Russia by Zakharov Books , and the Roman-Kino ("Novel-Film") series set during World War I. Akunin's specialty is historical mysteries set in Imperial Russia . It was only after the first books of the Fandorin series were published to critical acclaim that the identity of B. Akunin (i.e., Chkhartishvili) was revealed. Akunin lived in Moscow until 2014. He has since lived in Britain, France, and Spain. As of 2024 he

390-626: The Zestaponi / Shorapani area produce electrical products, aluminum and copper cable and wire. There were more plants in the Soviet era producing fireproof clay, marble and clothing. Zestaponi is also one of the winery-vinery centers of Georgia. Wine prepared from the Tsitsqa and Tsolikouri species are widely known. Zestaponi lies 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) west of the small but ancient fortress town of Shorapani , founded by Pharnavaz I of Iberia in

420-415: The arrest of Akunin in absentia . After the death of Alexei Navalny , Akunin said that "There is nothing more the dictator [Putin] can do to Navalny. Navalny is dead and has become immortal." In June 2024, the online library of Boris Akunin was blocked in Russia due to the library's distribution of Vladimir Sorokin's book The Heritage ( Russian : Наследие , romanized :  Naslediye ). In

450-594: The early Middle Ages in Shrosha and Shorapani. Shorapani (Sarapanis) is the toponymy, that is mentioned in old Greek mythology. That was Sarapanis that Jason and his Argonaut friends approached during their travel in old Colchis (Kolkhida). The local football club, FC Zestaponi , plays in the top league in Georgia and twice won the Georgian championship in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 season. The local women's basketball team

480-399: The person of the author and the fact that his name, A. O. Brusnikin, is an exact anagram of Boris Akunin. AST has also released a photograph of Brusnikin, which greatly resembled Chkhartishvili's face. In January 2012, two years after the second Brusnikin novel was published and just prior to the release of the third one, Chkhartishvili admitted in his blog that it was indeed him hiding under

510-461: The possibility. At about the same time as Brusnikin had made his appearance, Chkhartishvili's other disguise, Anna Borisova, hit the bookstores relatively undetected. In this literary experiment Chkhartishvili wanted to attempt to write as a woman and to get away from detective and adventure fiction. Similar to the Brusnikin ruse, the "photograph" of Borisova released by the publisher was actually

540-450: The pseudonym “B. Akunin", decoding "B" as "Boris". "Akunin" (悪人) is a Japanese word that translates to "great bad man". In his novel The Diamond Chariot , the author redefines an "akunin" as a great evil man who creates his own rules. Under the pseudonym Boris Akunin , he has written many works of fiction, mainly novels and stories in the series The Adventures of Erast Fandorin , The Adventures of Sister Pelagia , The Adventures of

570-667: The river that runs through it. During the Russian Empire , the city was the administrative center of the Shorapani Uyezd of the Kutaisi Governorate . In 1920, the name was changed again to "Jugeli", after a famous revolutionary . In 1921, the city regained its historical name. There are many historical monuments in the Zestaponi region: Zeda Saqara (11th century), Tabakini (6th century), Tseva (11th century), Sanakhshire and other churches, and castles from

600-774: The year 2000, Akunin was nominated for the Smirnoff-Booker Prize . In September 2000, Akunin was named Russian Writer of the Year and won the " Antibooker " prize 2000 for his Erast Fandorin novel Coronation, or the last of the Romanovs . In 2003, the British Crime Writers' Association placed Akunin's novel The Winter Queen on the short list for the Dagger Award in Fiction . In 2004, he

630-679: Was a member of the jury at the 26th Moscow International Film Festival . On 10 August 2009, for the contribution to the development of cultural ties between Russia and Japan, he was awarded the prize of the Japan Foundation acting under the auspices of the government. Laureate of the Noma Prize (2007, Kodansha Publishing House, Japan) - "For the best translation from Japanese of works of the writer Yukio Mishima". Two Fandorin novels, The Turkish Gambit and The State Counsellor , were made into big-budget Russian movies. Azazel

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660-474: Was adapted twice for television, first as The Winter Queen , and later as Fandorin. Azazel , produced by Yandex Studios and Kinopoisk streaming service. An English remake of The Winter Queen was in production. It was set to start filming in 2007, but the leading actress, Milla Jovovich , became pregnant, and the production process was delayed to unknown date. Pelagia and the White Bulldog

690-583: Was born on 20 May 1956 in Zestaponi to a Georgian father and a Jewish mother. He moved to Moscow in 1958. Chkhartishvili worked as assistant to the editor-in-chief of the magazine Foreign Literature , but left in October 2000 to pursue a career as a fiction writer. Influenced by Japanese kabuki theatre, he joined the historical-philological branch of the Institute of Asian and African Countries of Moscow State University as an expert on Japan. He

720-516: Was champion of Georgia in 2011. The city's stadium was built by Zestaponi Ferro-alloy Plant in 1952 and since its renovation has a capacity of 4,600. The writer Boris Akunin and philosopher Tengiz Tsereteli were born in Zestaponi. The psychologist and philosopher Dimitri Uznadze was born in the nearby village of Sakara in 1886. Famous Georgian actors Shalva Ghambashidze, Ushangi Chkheidze, Sergo and Bukhuti Zakariadze were also born in Zestaponi. World wrestling (Greco-Roman) champion Mikhail Saladze

750-474: Was designated a " foreign agent " by the Russian Ministry of Justice . This designation requires that the subject identify themselves as a "foreign agent" on social media and any other publications, and imposes heavy financial reporting requirements. Later that month, Russia's Interior Ministry put his name on a wanted list for alleged criminal activity. On 6 February 2024, a Moscow court ordered

780-530: Was editor-in-chief of the 20-volume Anthology of Japanese Literature , chairman of the board of a large "Pushkin Library”, and is the author of the book The Writer and Suicide (Moscow, The New Literary Review, 1999). He has also contributed literary criticism and translations from Japanese , American , and English literature under his own name. He publishes other critical and documentary works under his real name. Since 1998 he has been writing fiction under

810-422: Was engaged in literary translation from Japanese and English. Japanese authors Yukio Mishima , Kenji Maruyama , Yasushi Inoue , Masahiko Shimada , Kobo Abe , Shinichi Hoshi , Takeshi Kaiko , Shohei Ooka were published in his translation, as well as representatives of American and English literature ( T. C. Boyle , Malcolm Bradbury , Peter Ustinov , etc.). Under his given name of Grigory Chkhartishvili, he

840-422: Was made into a TV mini-series in 2009, while The Spy Novel came out in a 2012 theatrical release as Spy . Note: ( The Jack of Spades and The Decorator were published together in a single volume, Special Assignments: The Further Adventures of Erast Fandorin / Особые поручения. In November 2007, AST, one of the publishing houses with which Akunin is affiliated, came out with a historical mystery novel by

870-488: Was negative: many Russian publishing booksellers, including publishing company AST , ceased publication and distribution of Akunin's and Bykov's works. One of the few booksellers that continued to distribute Akunin's books, Zakharov Books , came under investigation by the Investigative Committee of Russia . Russian politician Andrey Gurulyov called Akunin an "enemy" that "must be destroyed". Akunin

900-559: Was then added by Rosfinmonitoring to its list of terrorists and extremists, with Akunin specifically believed to be complicit in terrorist activity by the Russian Government . The government also opened a criminal case against Akunin, with allegations of discreditation of the Russian army. In response, Akunin wrote on Facebook: "Terrorists declared me a terrorist." In an article on his website, Akunin has warned Russians abroad to not return to Russia. In January 2024, Akunin

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