Arsena Odzelashvili Explained

Arsena Odzelashvili (Georgian: არსენა ოძელაშვილი) commonly known as Arsena of Marabda (არსენა მარაბდელი; Arsena Marabdeli) (c. 1797 – 1842) was a Georgian outlaw said to have robbed the rich to help the poor. He gained popularity as a fighter against serfdom and Russian colonial rule in Georgia.

Born in a village Marabda (hence his nickname) to a typical Georgian peasant family, he led from the 1820s a small band which moved from region to region organizing assaults on police forces and loyal landowners. Eventually he was killed in 1842 in a skirmish with a Cossack unit at Mtskheta.[1] [2]

His popularity has been reflected in several fictional settings, particularly in folk poetry and patriotic Georgian literature. A Soviet-era silent movie about him was shot in 1923.

Notes and References

  1. http://www.georgianbiography.com/alphabetindex.html#A Arsena Marabdeli
  2. Cuttings from the Garden of Eden. Harper's Weekly. 1857. 1. 73. Bonner. John. Curtis. George William. Alden. Henry Mills. Conant. Samuel Stillman. Schuyler. Montgomery. Foord. John. Davis. Richard Harding. Schurz. Carl. Nelson. Henry Loomis. Bangs. John Kendrick. Harvey. George Brinton Mcclellan. Hapgood. Norman.