Real name - Grigory Shalvovich Chkhartishvili (Russian: 袘芯褉懈褋 袗泻褍薪懈薪; Georgian: 醿掅儬醿樶儝醿濁儬醿� 醿ㄡ儛醿氠儠醿愥儭 醿償 醿┽儺醿愥儬醿⑨儤醿ㄡ儠醿樶儦醿�; 袗lso see Grigory Chkhartishvili, 袚褉懈谐芯褉懈泄 效褏邪褉褌懈褕胁懈谢懈), born in Tbilisi, Georgia, in 1956. Since 1958 he lives in Moscow. Writer and translator from Japanese. Author of crime stories set in tsarist Russia. In 1998 he made his debut with novel Azazel (to English readers known as The Winter Queen), where he created Erast Pietrovich Fandorin. B. Akunin refers to Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin and Akuna, home name of Anna Akhmatova, Russian poet. In September of 2000, Akunin was named Russian Writer of the Year and won the "Antibooker" prize in 2000 for his Erast Fandorin novel Coronation, or the last of the Romanovs. Akunin also created crime-solving Orthodox nun, sister Pelagia, and literary genres. His pseudonyms are 袗薪邪褌芯谢懈泄 袘褉褍褋薪懈泻懈薪 and 袗薪薪邪 袘芯褉懈褋芯胁邪. In some Dutch editions he is also known as Boris Akoenin.