Tarek Gabidzashvili- a great man.

 

Tarek with two young Chorts

 

Tarek was not only a passionate hunter and breeder of Borzois, he also trained animals for Russian Cirkus and acted in several Russian movies. He was a most interesting man. I wont forget my meeting with him in Moscow 1982. ( I was driven around Moscow in an old Volga car by him and his brother, both very big and impressive men.) Dan Persson

Link to Natalya Grebetskaya’s Photo album

 

Obituary

Tariel Gabidzashvili died  On October 12, 2012, Tariel Varlamovich Gabidzashvili, the greatest film director, actor, brilliant naturalist, Honorary Member of the Royal English Kennel Club, passed away on October 10, 2012. For the past 15 years he has been the permanent chairman of the Greyhound Section of the Moscow Society of Hunters and Fishermen, and also an honorary member of the Rosokhotrybolovsoyuz and a great friend our publishing house. Tariel Varlamovich Gabidzashvili was born April 9, 1938 in Moscow in the family of artists of the Bolshoi Theater. Despite the fact that the parents dreamed of a theatrical career of their son, Tarik – that was his friends’ name – devoted his whole life to animals. He felt phenomenally animals and birds, understood and loved them – and they paid them the same. For many years he lived in the Botanical Garden of the Moscow State University with his collection of hounds (Russian dog, Russian steppe and horty), which he painstakingly collected for many years.

Tarek with some of his Borzois at the garden of Moscow University

 

I used to visit him quite often, and I remember the amazing and, in my opinion, the most complete picture of Tariq’s picture: towards me, surrounded by the whining and breaking pack of greyhounds, which wedge away from his feet, a mighty man with flying hair comes, and above Ravens accompanying this amazing procession head in his head. It turns out that during the life in the garden Tariq surprisingly managed to make friends with the local crows, who flocked close to him – hardly sat on his shoulders when he was busy at his wagon, and accompanied him when the Great Naturalist moved around the park. He was a Genial Animal Handler, ahead of his time. Methods based on love and understanding of behavior of animals, which they used in training, became known to a wide range of specialists only at the present time. His famous trick in the movie “The car, the violin and the dog Blot,” when the frame simultaneously in one direction running two hundred cats – it seems, it is impossible to surpass.

Tarek, with Lezgin. (I remember Lezgin from my visit in Moscow 1982, a splendid Borzoi/Dan)

Unlike most of the trainers who worked in the movies, Tarik was a universal – he worked with any, I stress, any animals, the director needed in the frame. He did tricks with dogs – domestic and dingo, cats, birds, wolves, bears. In his filmography of the film-trainer such works of the Soviet film classics as “Living and the Dead”, “The Story of a Real Man”, “The Legend of Thiele”, “War and Peace”, mentioned above “Car, Violin and the Blot Dog” and many others . Tariq had an incredibly impressive appearance and a rare charm – that’s why he often acted in film not only as a stunt-trainer, but also as an actor – his catcher Yusup from the movie “Moore is Moore” was remembered by many. He starred in more than 14 films (his last film – the novel “Nikitsky Gate” in the almanac “Moscow, I Love You”, 2010). Last years Tariel Varlamovich dedicated breeding of greyhounds of domestic breeds, making enormous efforts to preserve and revive the culture of dog hunting, culture, a landmark for our country, but, unfortunately, forgotten.

Tarek, at a hunting trial

He was a splendid, wise narrator, an amazing, kind, modest and incredibly tactful man. For all who knew him and was friends with him – an irreparable loss. We mourn and remember … The staff of the Enimalpress publishing house, the editorial staff of the magazine My Friend the Dog, My Friend the Cat, the portal of the animalpress.ru portal, the creative team of the program “Dialogues about animals”, the TV channel “Pets” mourns and expresses condolences to the friends and relatives of Tariel Varlamovich Gabidzashvili.

Ivan Zatevakhin

 

 

 

Year of Event:

1970

Country:

Russia

Personal Collections:

 

Source:

 

Author:

Dan Persson

Dogs:

 

Persons: