Award-Winning Historical Documentary: Meet the Author of “From Leather Coat to Leather Ball” (Video)
03/20/2025
In 2024, Newmag published the Armenian translation of “From Leather Coat to Leather Ball,” a historical documentary by Georgian journalist, writer, and historian David Jishkariani. The book goes beyond recounting the victories of Dinamo Tbilisi, offering a rare look inside the club’s inner workings, revealing hidden histories and secret archives.
- David Jishkariani is a Georgian journalist, writer, and historian.
- He specializes in modern history, focusing on the Soviet Union, Stalinism, nationalism, and colonialism.
- He is a visiting lecturer at Caucasus University.
- He writes analytical columns for Georgian and international media.
- Jishkariani spent over a decade conducting historical research for “From Leather Coat to Leather Ball.” He meticulously analyzed archives, conducted dozens of interviews, and uncovered long-forgotten details about Georgian football’s connection to Soviet politics.
- In 2022, the book received Georgia’s most prestigious SABA Literary Award, recognizing its exceptional contribution to historical literature.
- The book examines Soviet Georgia’s political system through the lens of one football team, illustrating how sports and power were deeply intertwined in the USSR.
- Born in Sukhumi, Abkhazia, Jishkariani grew up surrounded by Armenian families. For him, the Armenian translation of his book holds personal significance, as it brings his research to a broader audience while honoring his childhood connections.
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From a leather cape to a leather ball
David Jishkariani
5800 ֏
Description
In Soviet times, sports clubs operated under the patronage of state agencies. Tbilisi football club "Dinamo" belonged to the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, which was headed by Lavrenti Beria in the 1920s and 1930s.The sports rise of the team and the personal tragedies of the players were connected with that very circumstance.moreover, they were intertwined.Off the field, some footballers have been investigated by the Internal Affairs Committee, others have been victims of mass repres...
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