TEHRAN – A Georgian version of prominent Iranian author Mahmud Dowlatabadi’s novel “The Colonel” was unveiled at the Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Georgia last week.

A number of Georgian Iranologists, literati and cultural figures attended the unveiling ceremony held at the Oriental Club of the university.

Tamar Lebanidze, the director of Diogene Publishing House, which is the publisher of the book in Georgia gave a speech at the ceremony.

The book has been translated by Tea Shurgaia, who also made a short speech about Dowlatabadi and his novel.

“The Colonel” is the story of a highly decorated officer in the army of Iran’s last monarch Mohammad Reza. Now after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, on the night of the burial of his young daughter, he remembers his past, his wife and his career.

“The Colonel” was first published by Haus in Germany in 2009. An English version came out a few years later. Dowlatabadi has not yet received Iranian cultural officials’ permit to publish the Persian version in his homeland.

In 2013, “The Colonel” received the 2013 Jan Michalski Prize for Literature in Switzerland.

ABU/MMS/YAW