Participants of farewell ceremony named Iskander the main writer of Abkhazia

Fazil Iskander has opened Abkhazia for the whole global literature, and taught his fellow countrymen to view their homeland in a new way, said the participants of the farewell ceremony with the writer held in Moscow.

Fazil Iskander, a classic of Soviet literature, died on July 31, at the age of 87, in Peredelkino, near Moscow. Abkhazian authorities offered the writer's relatives to bury him at home in Sukhumi, but the family wished to bury Iskander into the Novodevichye Cemetery in Moscow. Today, hundreds of people came to say farewell to the famous writer.

Death of Fazil Iskander is a loss to the world literature, Raul Khajimba, President of Abkhazia, said at the farewell ceremony, adding that "Fazil Iskander had a great influence not only on the Abkhazian, but also on the global literature. In all his works, the writer told with love about his homeland and its people, about its character, traditions and customs."

For Abkhazia, Fazil Iskander has become a kind of a visiting card; and many people associate our republic with the writer's works, Vladimir Zantariya, the Adviser on Culture, Sciences and Education to President of Abkhazia, said at the ceremony.

Iskander's creativity became a literary discovery of Abkhazia, said Beslan Agrba, the head of the Abkhazian Diaspora in Moscow.

"Fazil Iskander opened his Abkhazia to readers; moreover, he opened Abkhazia to Abkhazians themselves. Reading his books since childhood, we were looking at our homeland in a new way," said Mr Agrba.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.