WRITER

Boris Akunin

1956 - Today

Photo of Boris Akunin

Icon of person Boris Akunin

Grigori Chkhartishvili (Russian: Григорий Шалвович Чхартишвили, romanized: Grigoriy Shalvovich Chkhartishvili; Georgian: გრიგორი ჩხარტიშვილი), better known by his pen name Boris Akunin (Russian: Борис Акунин, born 20 May 1956), is a Georgian-Russian writer residing in the United Kingdom. He is best known as a writer of historical fiction, specifically his Erast Fandorin detective novels. He is also an essayist and literary translator. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Boris Akunin has received more than 502,258 page views. His biography is available in 49 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 43 in 2019). Boris Akunin is the 1,707th most popular writer (up from 2,331st in 2019), the 58th most popular biography from Georgia (up from 85th in 2019) and the 6th most popular Georgian Writer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 500k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 57.41

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 49

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 2.60

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 5.30

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Azazel'
2001
Turkish Gambit
2005
Murder on the Leviathan
2004
The Winter Queen
Fiction
Moscow, May 1876: What would cause a talented young student from a wealthy family to shoot himself in front of a promenading public in the Alexander Gardens? Decadence and boredom, most likely, is what the commander of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Moscow Police thinks, but still he finds it curious enough to send the newest member of the division, Erast Fandorin, a young man of irresistible charm, to the Alexander Gardens precinct for more information. Fandorin is not satisfied with the conclusion that this is an open-and-shut case, nor with the preliminary detective work the precinct has done--and for good reason: The bizarre and tragic suicide is soon connected to a clear case of murder, witnessed firsthand by Fandorin. There are many unresolved questions. Why, for instance, have both victims left their fortunes to an orphanage run by the English Lady Astair? And who is the beautiful "A.B.," whose signed photograph is found in the apparent suicide's apartment? Relying on his keen intuition, the eager sleuth plunges into an investigation that leads him across Europe, landing him at the deadly center of a terrorist conspiracy of worldwide proportions.In this thrilling mystery that brings nineteenth-century Russia to vivid life, Akunin has created one of the most eagerly anticipated novels in years.From the Hardcover edition.
2003
Special Assignments
Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery
In Special Assignments, Erast Fandorin, nineteenth-century Russia's suavest sleuth, faces two formidable new foes: One steals outrageous sums of money, the other takes lives. "The Jack of Spades" is a civilized swindler who has conned thousands of rubles from Moscow's residents--including Fandorin's own boss, Prince Dolgorukoi. To catch him, Fandorin and his new assistant, timid young policeman Anisii Tulipov, must don almost as many disguises as the grifter does himself. "The Decorator" is a different case altogether: A savage serial killer who believes he "cleans" the women he mutilates and takes his orders from on high, he must be given Fandorin's most serious attentions.Peopled by a rich cast of eccentric characters, and with plots that are as surprising as they are inventive, Special Assignments will delight Akunin's many fans, while challenging the gentleman sleuth's brilliant powers of detection.Praise from England:"Boris Akunin's wit and invention are a source of constant wonder."--Evening Standard"[Fandorin is] a debonair combo of Sherlock Holmes, D'Artagnan and most of the soulful heroes of Russian literature. . . . This pair of perfectly balanced stories permit the character of Fandorin to grow."--The Sunday Telegraph"Agatha Christie meets James Bond: [Akunin's] plots are intricate and tantalizing. . . . [These stories] are unputdownable and great fun."--Sunday Express"The beguiling, super-brainy, sexy, unpredictable Fandorin is a creation like no other in crime fiction."--The TimesFrom the Trade Paperback edition.
2007
The Death of Achilles
Fiction, Mystery
In 1882, after six years of foreign travel and adventure, renowned diplomat and detective Erast Fandorin returns to Moscow in the heart of Mother Russia. His Moscow homecoming is anything but peaceful. In the hotel where he and his loyal if impertinent manservant Masa are staying, Fandorin's old war-hero friend General Michel Sobolev ("Achilles" to the crowd) has been found dead, felled in his armchair by an apparent heart attack. But Fandorin suspects an unnatural cause. His suspicions lead him to the boudoir of the beautiful singer--"not exactly a courtesan"--known as Wanda. Apparently, in Wanda's bed, the general secretly breathed his last. . . .From the Trade Paperback edition.
2005
Azazelʹ
Russian Detective and mystery stories, Fiction, Comic books, strips
1998
Турецкий гамбит
Bulgaria, fiction, Fiction, espionage, Erast Fandorin (Fictitious character)
2005
Turet͡s︡kiĭ gambit
Fiction, Russo-Turkish War, 1877-1878, History
"[Akunin] writes gloriously pre-Soviet prose, sophisticated and suffused in Slavic melanchioly and thoroughly worthy of nineteenth-century forebearers like Gogol and Chekhov."--TimeIt is 1877, and war has broken out between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. The Bulgarian front resounds with the thunder of cavalry charges, the roar of artillery, and the clash of steel on steel during the world's last great horse-and-cannon conflict. Amid the treacherous atmosphere of a nineteenth-century Russian field army, former diplomat and detective extraordinaire Erast Fandorin finds his most confounding case.It's difficulties are only compounded by the presence of Varya Suvorova, a deadly serious (and seriously beautiful) woman with revolutionary ideals who has disguised herself as a boy in order to find her respected comrade-- and fiance--Pyotr Yablokov, an army cryptographer. Even after Fandorin saves her life, Varya can hardly bear to thank such a "lackey of the throne" for his efforts.But when Yablokov is accused of espionage and faces imprisonment and execution, Varya must turn to Fandorin to find the real culprit . . . a mission that forces her to reconsider his courage, deductive mind, and piercing gaze.Filled with the same delicious detail, ingenious plotting, and subtle satire as The Winter Queen and Murder on the Leviathan, The Turkish Gambit confirms Boris Akunin's status as a master of the historical thriller--and Erast Fandorin as a detective for the ages.From the Hardcover edition.
2000
The Winter Queen
Fiction, New York Times reviewed, Moscow (russia), fiction
Moscow, May 1876: What would cause a talented young student from a wealthy family to shoot himself in front of a promenading public in the Alexander Gardens? Decadence and boredom, most likely, is what the commander of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Moscow Police thinks, but still he finds it curious enough to send the newest member of the division, Erast Fandorin, a young man of irresistible charm, to the Alexander Gardens precinct for more information. Fandorin is not satisfied with the conclusion that this is an open-and-shut case, nor with the preliminary detective work the precinct has done--and for good reason: The bizarre and tragic suicide is soon connected to a clear case of murder, witnessed firsthand by Fandorin. There are many unresolved questions. Why, for instance, have both victims left their fortunes to an orphanage run by the English Lady Astair? And who is the beautiful "A.B.," whose signed photograph is found in the apparent suicide's apartment? Relying on his keen intuition, the eager sleuth plunges into an investigation that leads him across Europe, landing him at the deadly center of a terrorist conspiracy of worldwide proportions.In this thrilling mystery that brings nineteenth-century Russia to vivid life, Akunin has created one of the most eagerly anticipated novels in years.From the Hardcover edition.
2002
Murder on the Leviathan
Fiction, mystery & detective, police procedural, Crime, fiction, Paris (france), fiction
2004
Special Assignments
Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery
In Special Assignments, Erast Fandorin, nineteenth-century Russia's suavest sleuth, faces two formidable new foes: One steals outrageous sums of money, the other takes lives. "The Jack of Spades" is a civilized swindler who has conned thousands of rubles from Moscow's residents--including Fandorin's own boss, Prince Dolgorukoi. To catch him, Fandorin and his new assistant, timid young policeman Anisii Tulipov, must don almost as many disguises as the grifter does himself. "The Decorator" is a different case altogether: A savage serial killer who believes he "cleans" the women he mutilates and takes his orders from on high, he must be given Fandorin's most serious attentions.Peopled by a rich cast of eccentric characters, and with plots that are as surprising as they are inventive, Special Assignments will delight Akunin's many fans, while challenging the gentleman sleuth's brilliant powers of detection.Praise from England:"Boris Akunin's wit and invention are a source of constant wonder."--Evening Standard"[Fandorin is] a debonair combo of Sherlock Holmes, D'Artagnan and most of the soulful heroes of Russian literature. . . . This pair of perfectly balanced stories permit the character of Fandorin to grow."--The Sunday Telegraph"Agatha Christie meets James Bond: [Akunin's] plots are intricate and tantalizing. . . . [These stories] are unputdownable and great fun."--Sunday Express"The beguiling, super-brainy, sexy, unpredictable Fandorin is a creation like no other in crime fiction."--The TimesFrom the Trade Paperback edition.
2007

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Boris Akunin ranks 1,707 out of 7,302. Before him are Maximus the Greek, Jean Bodel, Jean-Baptiste Rousseau, Shen Yue, Táhirih, and Sheridan Le Fanu. After him are Bernard Malamud, Kateb Yacine, Mao Dun, Hadewijch, Lucinda Riley, and Hermann Bahr.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1956, Boris Akunin ranks 71. Before him are Sultan bin Salman Al Saud, Dave Murray, Iveta Radičová, Amado Carrillo Fuentes, Milan Babić, and Bob Saget. After him are Kōji Yakusho, Patricia Cornwell, Mansour Bahrami, Baruch Goldstein, La Toya Jackson, and Krystian Zimerman.

Others Born in 1956

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In Georgia

Among people born in Georgia, Boris Akunin ranks 58 out of 406. Before him are Mikhail Kalatozov (1903), George IV of Georgia (1191), Tengiz Abuladze (1924), Gabriel Urgebadze (1929), Pavel Bermondt-Avalov (1877), and David VI of Georgia (1225). After him are Vakhtang Kikabidze (1938), Şevkefza Kadın (1820), Akim Tamiroff (1899), Hümaşah Sultan (1634), Meliton Kantaria (1920), and Georgiy Daneliya (1930).

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Among WRITERS In Georgia

Among writers born in Georgia, Boris Akunin ranks 6. Before him are Shota Rustaveli (1172), Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893), Sayat-Nova (1712), Ilia Chavchavadze (1837), and Pavel Bermondt-Avalov (1877). After him are Vazha-Pshavela (1861), Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko (1858), Teimuraz II of Kakheti (1700), Akaki Tsereteli (1840), Nikoloz Baratashvili (1817), and Nodar Dumbadze (1928).

Georgian born Writers

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