Merab Merabishvili

Merab Konstantines dze Merabishvili (; 6 July 1931 – 11 January 2022) was a Georgian sculptor known for his monumental public works. He was named a People's Illustrator of the Georgian SSR in 1980, and was a full member of both the USSR Academy of Arts and the Georgian National Academy of Sciences.

Early life and education Merabishvili was born on 6 July 1931 in Tbilisi, the son of the sculptor Konstantine Merabishvili. In 1955 he graduated in sculpture from the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts, where he had studied under his father.

Career Merabishvili taught at the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts from 1961, becoming a professor in 1978 and later head of its drawing department. He was elected a full member of the USSR Academy of Arts in 1988 and an academician of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences in 1996.

Working in a realist, monumental idiom, he created many public monuments. Among them are the monument to Alexander Griboyedov in Tbilisi (1961), the equestrian monument to King Erekle II in Telavi (1971), a monument to Georgi Dimitrov in Moscow (1972, with his father), equestrian monuments to General Pyotr Bagration in Tbilisi (1984) and Moscow (1999), and a monument to Shota Rustaveli later installed in Budapest.

Awards and honours People's Artist of the Georgian SSR (visual arts; ), 1980 Honorary Citizen of Tbilisi (2002) Order of Honour (2001) Gold Medal of the Russian Academy of Arts

Death Merabishvili died in Tbilisi on 11 January 2022, aged 90, and was buried beside his father.

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