About
Boris Akunin is the pen name of Grigory Chkhartishvili, a Russian writer born in Georgia in 1956. A graduate of the Institute of Asian and African Countries at Moscow State University, he worked as a literary translator and editor before publishing his first historical detective novel, Azazel, in 1998. He is best known for his series featuring detective Erast Fandorin, which achieved great success in Russia and abroad. Akunin has also written other series, non-fiction works, and a multi-volume history of Russia. Living in exile since 2014, he is a vocal critic of the war in Ukraine.
* 1956-05-20
Major works
- Azazel (1998)novel
- The Writer and Suicide (1999)essay
- Coronation, or the Last of the Romanovs (2000)novel
- History of the Russian State (2013)history
Key milestones
- 1998Fiction debut under the pen name Boris Akunin with the novel Azazel.
- 2009Awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, by Japan for contributions to cultural exchange.
- 2022Co-founds the 'True Russia' association and opposes the war in Ukraine.
Themes
Tsarist RussiaDetective investigationsRussian historyExile and identityPolitical critique
Sources: iliauni.edu.ge · britishcouncil.de · groveatlantic.com