Boris Akunin (whose real name is Grigori Chkhartishvili) was born in Western Georgia on May 20th, 1956,  to a Georgian father and a Jewish mother. He lived in Moscow from 1958 until 2014. Since then he has lived between Britain, France and Spain.

Before Chkhartishvili started to write fiction he had worked as a journalist and a translator.

Boris Akunin is one of his pen names. Under this name he has written many works of fiction, mostly novels and stories in the series "The Adventures of Erast Fandorin" and "The Adventures of Sister Pelagia". Some of his works have been made into films.

Akunin's most famous character is Erast Fandorin, a detective. Erast is of average height, with a thin build. He has a small moustache, blue eyes and black hair. He speaks fluent English, French, German and Japanese. He also speaks Turkish and Bulgarian and later learns Spanish and Italian. Fandorin is described as a master of disguise.

The Erast Fandorin novels have been translated into more than 30 languages.