Righteous Ilia the Righteous (Chavchavadze), of Georgia

Righteous Ilia was born on October 27, 1837, in the village of Kvareli (Kakheti) into a princely family. A writer, poet, publicist, lawyer, and public figure, he is recognized as the leading figure of the 19th-century Georgian national revival and one of the founders of modern Georgian national consciousness.

He was editor-in-chief of the journal "Sakartvelos Moambe" (1863-1877), and then, what especially made his name famous, founded and led the newspaper "Iveria" (1877-1905) — the leading Georgian-language socio-political and literary publication, which became the driving force of national consciousness and resistance to Russification. He is credited with the now-famous motto of the Georgian national movement: "Language, Fatherland, Faith" ("Ena, Mamuli, Sartsmunoeba"). For his outstanding contribution to national life, Ilia was called the "uncrowned king of Georgia" and "father of the nation."

On August 28, 1907, he was killed near Tsitsamuri outside Mtskheta by a gang led by Gigla Berbichashvili. In the Soviet era the murder was attributed to the Tsarist secret police; later archival research points to possible involvement of combined Menshevik and Bolshevik Social-Democrat circles, dissatisfied with his opposition to their revolutionary politics.

He was canonized by the Georgian Orthodox Church in 1987, among the righteous.

ON THE COMMEMORATION DATE: Righteous Ilia is commemorated on July 20/August 2 — the feast day of his heavenly patron, the Old Testament Prophet Elijah (the Georgian name "Ilia" being a form of "Elijah/Elias"). This is not a data-contamination error (unlike the analogous case with Venerable Ilya Muromets, see the separate entry) but a deliberate and canonical determination of the Georgian Church — it is standard practice to link a saint's commemoration to the feast day of their heavenly patron.