The Knight in the Panther’s Skin is the national epic poem of Georgia, dating from medieval times. Presumably written by the famous 12th Century Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli, it tells the chivalric tale of Avantil’s search for a mysterious tiger skin clad knight. The poem has held a central position in Georgian culture for centuries; women of the aristocracy used to be expected to know the whole poem by heart, and many of the characters’ philosophical musings have become popular proverbs in Georgia.

The epic poem was translated into most languages spoken in the Soviet Union, and the Yiddish translation was published in 1937 by Melukhe-farlag far natsionale minoritetn in USSR. The translators were the prolific Yiddish poets and translators Motl Khashtshevatski and Dovid Hofsteyn. The former was killed in battle in 1943, fighting in the Red Army against the Nazis, and the latter on the Night of the Murdered Poets at the hands of Stalin in 1952.