The holy, glorious and right-victorious Martyr Ilia the Righteous was a Georgian writer, poet, journalist, and lawyer who spearheaded the revival of the Georgian national movement in the second half of the nineteenth century, during the Russian rule of Georgia, and called for autocephaly for the Church of Georgia. He is widely regarded as one of the founding fathers of modern Georgia. He was glorified as a saint by the Church of Georgia in 1987. The Georgian people revere Ilia as the Father of the Fatherland of Georgia. His feast day is commemorated on July 20.