Rezo Gabriadze: Legendary Georgian puppeteer dies at 84

Rezo Gabriadze in Moscow in 2016

One of the Soviet art world's most famous figures, Georgian theatre director Rezo Gabriadze, has died at 84 in Tbilisi.

Gabriadze was known internationally for exquisite puppet theatre productions such as his poignant depiction of the Battle of Stalingrad.

He also wrote the scripts of some of the USSR's most popular films.

His comedies included Mimino (1977), about the life of a pilot, and the cult sci-fi film Kin-dza-dza (1986).

Moscow hosted an exhibition of Gabriadze's works in 2016 to mark his 80th birthday

Another of his more than 35 screenplays, Don't Grieve (1969), transposed the tragicomic French novel My Uncle Benjamin to Georgia.

News of his death was announced by officials and confirmed by relatives.

He won awards in Georgia, the USSR and Russia.

A scene from Ramona, one of Gabriadze's productions

A profile on the website of his puppet theatre in Tbilisi records that he was also a film and stage director, a painter and a sculptor.

But he channelled much of his creativity into his puppet work.

The Rezo Gabriadze Marionette Theatre in Tbilisi

Bringing his take on the Battle of Stalingrad to London in 2002, he told BBC News that during Soviet times, he had often identified with Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, seeing himself as a castaway from world culture on the desert island of a totalitarian state.

But Robinson Crusoe had, he said, shaved off his beard, and the arts in Georgia and the rest of the former USSR were "rejoining the world".

Georgiy Daneliya, who directed Gabriadze's greatest films, died in Moscow in 2019 aged 88.