Irakli Charkviani
Irakli Charkviani (Georgian: ირაკლი ჩარკვიანი) (November 19, 1961 – February 25, 2006) was a Georgian poet, writer, and musician, lately known under his pseudonym Mefe (მეფე, "The King"). Charkviani is known for his eccentric image and poetry, and for eclectic music, which includes alternative, indie rock, electronic music, pop and hip hop.
Charkviani was born in elite family in Tbilisi, the capital of former Soviet Republic of Georgia. His father, the journalist and diplomat Gela Charkviani is Georgia’s current ambassador to the United Kingdom, and grandfather Kandid Charkviani was Lavrentiy Beria’s replacement as the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Georgian SSR Communist Party from 1938 to 1952.
Charkviani graduated from the Department of Western European and American Literature, Tbilisi State University. His debut in 1976, with the indie rock project Arishi, passed unnoticed, but the later band Taxi had a greater success and recorded the homonymous album in 1988. In the 1980s, several of Charkviani’s lyrics and short stories, noted for their rebellious character, were published in Georgian literary press. Early in the 1990s, Charkviani emerged as one of the leading artists on Georgia’s alternative and electronic scene. Leading the projects Children’s Medicine (1991-2), and Georgian Dance Empire (1993), he performed throughout Georgia as well as abroad, particularly in Moscow and Eastern Europe. Charkviani’s debut solo-album Svan Song was recorded in Germany in 1993 and proved to be a significant influence on the Georgian alternative music of the 1990s. He composed music for the feature film "Orpheus’s Death" in 1995 and went on to record his second album Ap’ren in 1997, followed by the single Sakartvelo in 1999 and the albums Amo and Savse in 2001 and 2004, respectively. Around the same period, he chose the pseudonym of Mefe, meaning in Georgia "a king". Charkviani also authored several poems, stories and a novel, but his music remained the principal source of his popularity.
He died, reportedly of "heart problems",[1] at his home on February 25, 2006, leaving several unpublished songs which were subsequently released as the album Dzirs Mefe ("Down with the King") in 2007.
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