Shota Rustaveli

Author of The Knight in the Panther's Skin

12th–13th c.

Little is known of Rustaveli's life: by tradition he served at Queen Tamar's court and ended his days in Jerusalem, where his fresco portrait survives in the Monastery of the Cross.

The Vepkhistqaosani is the summit of the Georgian Middle Ages: a poem of friendship, love and honour that became the book of books for Georgians; its copies were part of brides' dowries for centuries.