Merab Berdzenishvili

Berdzenishvili on a 2023 stamp of Georgia

Hermann Gmeiner with children, a statue by Berdzenishvili in Imst, Austria

Merab Berdzenishvili (June 10, 1929 – September 17, 2016) was a Georgian sculptor and artist.

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

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. Later that year, the sculpture was reconstructed in Moscow.