Kosta Khetagurov

Who was Kosta Khetagurov?

Konstantin Khetagkati was a national poet of the Ossetian people who is generally regarded as the founder of the Ossetian literature. He was also a talented painter and a notable public benefactor. He is often known by the Russian version of his name, Kosta [Levanovich] Khetagurov

Khetagurov was born in the village of Nar in what is now Alagirsky District in the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania. He studied at the Stavropol Gymnasium from 1871 to 1881, and entered the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts in 1881, but had to abandon his studies due to financial constraint in 1885. Back in his native Ossetia, he became a prominent poet, whose poems composed in Ossetic quickly spread throughout Ossetian towns and villages in an oral form. He also published a number of poems, stories and articles in the Russian-language newspapers Severny Kavkaz, and Kazbek. His paintings also gained in notable popularity, one of them depicting Saint Nino, a 4th-century Christian baptizer of the Georgians, was particularly welcomed by the Georgian society.