Grigori Chkhartishvili

Grigori Chkhartishvili, better known by his pen name Boris Akunin, is a prominent Russian author born in 1956 in Georgia. He is renowned for his detective and historical novels, particularly the acclaimed 'Investigations of Erast Fandorin', set in the Tsarist era. Akunin has also authored a nine-volume work titled 'The History of the Russian State', which explores Russia's development up to the 1917 revolution. An outspoken critic of the Russian government's actions, including the annexation of Crimea in 2014, he has lived in exile in London since then. Akunin has been an advocate for Ukrainian refugees and has co-founded the project 'True Russia', opposing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.