Gukaev Dmitri (Dzarahmat) 

Holder of the St.George cross (all degrees)  

Honored with: the Order of St.Anne (4th degree) with inscription “For courage”, of 3rd degree with the swords and the bow, of 2nd degree with the swords; the Order of St.Stanislav (3rd degree) with the swords, that of 2nd degree with the swords and a number of medals.  

Dzarahmat Gukaev was born in 1877 in Kadgaron. Having graduated from the theological seminary, Dzarahmat did not become a priest but instead went to the Far East to build railroads.  

It was at that time when the Japan war broke out. Dzarahmat was enrolled as a volunteer in the 7th East Siberian battalion and a month later was appointed junior corporal for the bravery in the fighting against the Japanese. A year later he was already a praporshik and was decorated with the St.George cross. That’s the way it happened. 

A group of hunters commanded by Dzarahmat Gukaev tied up the guards, blew up the Japanese headquarters and stole the regiment banner. The Japanese horsemen followed them and the fighting began. Only Dzarahmat was alive, though wounded, after that fighting. Wrapped in the Japanese banner he had been trying to reach his fellow soldiers for three days. This feat of arms got him the St.George cross and a short-term vacation to treat his wounds. The whole town of Kadgaron was greeting the hero. Later, for heroism shown in fighting he was decorated with three more of the St.George crosses. 

Soon after the end of the Japanese war the military praporshik was sent to the Tiflis cadet school to continue his military education. Here in Tiflis Dzarahmat got on friendly terms with the Ossetian intellectuals and a famous enlightener Alexander Tibilov. At that time there was an Ossetian theatre troupe in Tiflis and Alexandre introduced Dzarahmat to everyone there. The theatre, the stage… Everything was new to the St.George holder. Soon he was performing in “The Two Sisters” staged after E.Britayev’s play. In the “Hazby” he was playing the role of a Russian officer. 

It was here in the Ossetian theatre that Dzarahmat met a member of the Ossetian troupe Sasha Parastayeva. They fell for each other and Sasha’s father, a rich merchant, did not oppose to their love. Guests from the Southern and Northern Ossetia came to the luxurious wedding ceremony. Saui Parastayev was famous for his hospitality, as a man of culture and enlightened ideas. He sponsored the Ossetian theatre in Tiflis. Sasha Parastayeva had been working in the troupe from 1905 to 1948 when the Ossetian theatre in Tiflis was closed “as being of no use”. 

With the arrival of the Soviet power the Bolsheviks, considering the merchant’s participation in the revolutionary movement, allowed him to use the whole floor of his large house for his personal needs. The rest of the house was occupied by the Georgian Red Cross. However, the Free Georgia drove out the children and grandchildren of the St.George holder during the Georgian-Ossetian crisis and now they are living in Moscow as refugees. 

Oleg Khabalov 

Actor and director of the Gipsy theater “Romen”