"The heartbeat of my mountains" by Aleksey Dzhonua

Aleksey Dzhonua (7 May 1920 – 27 February 1989) was a distinguished Abkhaz poet, prose writer, translator, and public figure. An Honoured Worker of Culture of the Abkhaz ASSR, he was a veteran of the Second World War and a recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious D.I. Gulia State Prize of Abkhazia in 1984 for his poetry collection Blood and Love. Born in the village of Chlou, Dzhonua enrolled in the Sukhum State Pedagogical Institute in 1938. However, his studies were interrupted when he was conscripted into the army. During the war, he served in a tank unit, was wounded in one of the first battles, captured by the enemy, and later escaped to join a partisan detachment in Ukraine, where he served in a reconnaissance group until 1944. After the war, he returned to Abkhazia and completed his degree in 1947. Dzhonua embarked on a varied and influential career, serving as the editor-in-chief of the literary magazine Alashara (1956–1966), the Minister of Education of the Abkhaz ASSR (1966–1978), and the head of the state's archival administration (1978–1986). From 1986 until his death, he was the Chairman of the Board of the Writers' Union of Abkhazia. As an author, Dzhonua wrote in the Abkhaz language and published over 15 collections of poetry and prose. He was also a prolific translator, making works by Russian, Ukrainian, Georgian, and Arab writers accessible to Abkhaz readers. His own poetry was widely translated into other languages.