Guram Tikanadze, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetGuram Tikanadze
Date of Birth: 12-Sep-1932
Place of Birth: Georgia
Date of Death: 27-Aug-1963
Profession: photographer
Zodiac Sign: Virgo 
About Guram Tikanadze
- Guram Tikanadze (Georgian: ????? ????????; (September 12, 1932 – August 27, 1963) was a Georgian alpinist and photographer. He studied at the Tbilisi 1st Public School.
- Tikanadze was a geologist, he graduated from the Tbilisi State University, the faculty of Geography and Geology.
- Between 1956 and 1959 he worked at the Vakhushti Bagrationi Institute of Geography.
- Guram Tikanadze was interested in different types of sports; by 1956, he was a first-class boxer.
- He was in the 7th grade when he became interested in photography and studied at the Tbilisi Pioneer Palace, under the supervision of famous photographers – Niko Sagharadze and Sergo Akhvlediani.
- From 1975 the circle of young photographers was named after Guram Tikanadze.
- His first success was in 1958, when he published his work, "A Song of Water".
- In 1959, he began to work on the "Drosha" magazine as a photo-reporter.
- The same year, he received the silver medal for his work, "Ole," in Vienna and it became the first international award in the history of Georgian photography.
- In the same year, he received a bronze medal at the Modena International Photo Contest for his work "Tbilisi Sea".
- In 1962, he became the head of the photo-department at the Union of Georgian Journalists in Tbilisi.
- His works were regularly published in various international publications in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Italy and Hong Kong.
- He was a participant in several photo exhibitions.
- Among his famous photos are: “Sweet Melon”, “Mountain Daybreak”, “Meskhi Attacks”, “Tetnuldi – A Bride of Svaneti”, “Ushba”, “Tenzing Norgay”, “Paradox of rain”, “Old Tbilisi”, etc. In his works, Guram Tikanadze paired a poetic mode of thinking with journalism.
- Guram Tikanadze's activities coincided with the so-called “Khrushchev Thaw” period, when young photographers intentionally ignored the rules of staged photography and were boldly pushing reportage photography forward.
- Guram Tikanadze greatly contributed to the development of Georgian photography by creating a certain cultural and genetic tradition. Guram Tikanadze was a student when he became interested in Alpinism.
- During his short life, he managed to climb up to 40 mountaintops.
- His first was “Spartacus” in 1952.
- From 1957 onward, he was climbing grade 5 mountaintops.
- The first such summit was Mount Garmo in the Pamirs, in 1957.
- During the period between August and September in 1958, Guram Tikanadze, along with a group of four people, accomplished the most difficult traverse on the main chain of the Central Caucasus.
- He conquered 14 out of 16 mountaintops and was awarded the silver medal of the Soviet Union (none of the group members received the gold medal).
- In 1961, he headed a traverse of both mountaintops of [Ushba]. In August 1963, with a sport group that he headed, he conquered Tetnuldi.
- On August 21, the group reached Shkhara.
- He died on August 27, while descending the mountain.
- He hammered a wooden pole into a rock gap, attached a rope to it and began to descend, but the wooden pole slipped from the gap.
- His body was brought from the mountains on September 1, by a group of mountaineers headed by Beknu Khergiani and Chichiko Chartolani.
- In 1980, in the Latali village of Svaneti, with the initiative and support of the local population, the Guram Tikanadze Sports Center and Museum was opened.
Read more at Wikipedia