Merab Berdzenishvili

Merab Berdzenishvili (Georgian: მერაბ ბერძენიშვილი; June 10, 1929 – September 17, 2016) was a Georgian sculptor and artist. In 1975 he was awarded the Shota Rustaveli Prize.^[1]

Berdzenishvili received multiple awards during his career including People’s Artist of the Soviet Union (1987).^[2] In 1995 he was awarded the State Prize of Georgia for the monument commemorating the battle of Didgori.^[3]

In 2009, one of his largest works, a monument commemorating the Great Patriotic War, was demolished to make way for the Georgian Parliament Building in Kutaisi. During the demolition, a mother and her daughter were killed by flying masonry.^[4] Later that year, the sculpture was reconstructed in Moscow.^[5]