Kosta Levanovich Khetagurov

Kosta Levanovich Khetagurov was an Ossetian poet, playwright, publicist, ethnographer, painter, and public figure. He is the founder of Ossetian literature and the Ossetian literary language. He was born on October 15, 1859, in the village of Nar (now Alagirsky District of North Ossetia) and was educated at the Vladikavkaz and Stavropol gymnasiums, as well as at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (1881–1885).

After graduating from the Academy of Arts, Khetagurov returned to Ossetia and engaged in educational and enlightenment activities. He organized exhibitions and musical-literary evenings, and contributed to the development of theatrical art and education. From February 1893 he was a regular contributor, effectively the editor, of the newspaper "Severny Kavkaz" ("The North Caucasus"), where he fought against the arbitrariness of the tsarist administration in the Caucasus. For this activity he was exiled from Ossetia for a second time in May 1899.

Having returned home two years later, Khetagurov fell gravely ill in 1903 and was unable to continue active creative work. He spent his last years at his father's house in the village of Georgievsko-Ossetinskoye (now the village of K. Khetagurov, Karachay-Cherkess Republic). Kosta Levanovich Khetagurov died on April 1, 1906, and was buried in the pantheon of the Church of the Holy Mother of God in Vladikavkaz.