Anzor Erkomaishvili ( ka, ანზორ ერქომაიშვილი; 10 August 1940 – 31 March 2021) was a Georgian singer, composer, and folk music researcher. He is known for his long-standing work as musical director of the folk choir Rustavi Ensemble since 1968 and efforts for preserving the folk singing heritage of Georgia.

Biography

Anzor Erkomaishvili was born in

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ), historically Batum or Batoum, is the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), second-largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast ...

in then- Soviet Georgia into a family with a longstanding musical tradition. His grandfather was the Georgian folk singer Artem Erkomaishvili. He graduated from the Tbilisi State Conservatoire in 1969. Still being a student, he began collecting and

transcribing In linguistics, transcription is the systematic representation of spoken language in Writing, written form. The source can either be utterances (''speech'' or ''sign language'') or preexisting written language, text in another writing system. ...

the polyphonic Georgian folk repertoire, particularly from the province of

Guria Guria ( ka, გურია) is a region (''mkhare'') in Georgia (country), Georgia, in the western part of the country, bordered by the eastern end of the Black Sea. The region has a population of 104,338 (2023), with Ozurgeti as the regional cap ...

. In 1968, he founded the Rustavi Choir which toured throughout Georgia and abroad for decades. Erkomaishvili's work on researching, compiling and safeguarding the folk singing legacy earned him many awards, including the title of Meritorious Artist of Georgia (1969), Ivane Javakhishvili and Shota Rustaveli national prizes, Order of Honor and Presidential Order of Excellence (2020), Honorary Citizenship of

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

(2014) and others. In 2008 he was elected to the

Parliament of Georgia The Parliament of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პარლამენტი, tr) is the supreme national legislature of Georgia. It is a unicameral parliament, currently consisting of 150 members elected through fully pr ...

for the ruling United National Movement party from the single-mandate district of

Ozurgeti Ozurgeti ( ka, ოზურგეთი ) is the capital of the western Georgia (country), Georgian province of Guria. It was formerly known as Macharadze or Makharadze (named in honor of Filipp Makharadze). It is a regional center of tea and haze ...

, but he resigned his parliamentary position in March 2009. He published memoirs and books on Georgian folk music. Erkomaishvili died due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

-related complications in a hospital in

on 31 March 2021. He was buried at the

Mtatsminda Pantheon The Mtatsminda Pantheon of Writers and Public Figures ( ka, მთაწმინდის მწერალთა და საზოგადო მოღვაწეთა პანთეონი, ''mtats'mindis mts'eralta da sazogado mo ...

in Tbilisi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erkomaisvhili, Anzor 1940 births 2021 deaths Folk singers from Georgia (country) Folklorists from Georgia (country) Recipients of the Order of Honor (Georgia) Recipients of the Presidential Order of Excellence Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Georgia (country) Members of the Parliament of Georgia People from Batumi 20th-century male singers from Georgia (country) 21st-century male singers from Georgia (country) 21st-century musicians from Georgia (country)