Malkhaz Kharbedia, a renowned Georgian literary scholar, writer, essayist, winemaker, co-founder and president of the “Wine Club,” and editor-in-chief of the magazines Hot Chocolate and Arili, as well as the Marani–Weekend newspaper, has passed away at the age of 50.
Kharbedia had been battling a serious illness.
Biography
Malkhaz Kharbedia was born on October 27, 1974, in Tbilisi. In 1998, he graduated from the Faculty of Philology at Tbilisi State University, specializing in classical languages. He began his career in 1994 at the newspaper Kavkasioni. In January 1996, he joined the team of Arili, after the newspaper became an 8-page weekly supplement to Kavkasioni. That same year, he became the deputy editor-in-chief of Arili, later rising to the position of editor-in-chief.
In 1998, he served as the editor of the literary supplement of Sakartvelos Gazeti. From 2001 to 2012, he worked as a research fellow at the Institute of Literature. Between 2002 and 2006, he was the editor of the culture section at the 24 Saati newspaper and led its literary and books supplements. From 2006 to 2014, he served as the editor-in-chief of the weekly Marani (a supplement to Weekend).
In September 2007, he launched a daily-updated Georgian-language blog about wine and taste, vinoge.com. From 2007 to 2011, he was editor-in-chief of Literature – Hot Chocolate. Between 2009 and 2013, he was a blogger and host of the program Library on Radio Liberty. In the summer of 2009, he co-founded the “Wine Club” with like-minded colleagues. From 2011 to 2012, he hosted a monthly, then weekly wine column in Tabula magazine. Between September 2012 and March 2013, he was the author and host of the show Wine Guide on Hot Chocolate radio. From April 2013 until 2014, he served as editor-in-chief of Hot Chocolate magazine.
