The illustration depicts Iakob Gogebashvili, a Georgian educator, children’s writer, and author of the classic Georgian primer, Deda Ena (დედა ენა), or Mother Tongue, published in 1876, which in modified form serves to this day as a textbook in Georgian schools.

Surrounded by his own works, Gogebashvili is disappointed because, according to the poem accompanying the caricature, orders for his books have been dropping off.

Starting with the second edition, Deda Ena was published several times with illustrations by Oskar Schmerling.

Source: The National Parliamentary Library of Georgia