Ermakov Dmitry

Ermakov Dmitry (1846-1916), Artist– photographer and collector. His father, distinguished architect of his time Luigi (Ludwig) Cambiaggio, arrived in Georgia from Odessa. His mother was a local peasant woman of the Molokani faith. Presumably, the surname ‘Ermakov’ belonged to his mother or his stepfather. D. Ermakov was born in Nakhichevan. He started taking photos in the 1860s. In 1870, being on trip in Trabzon, he sent to the Petersburg Geographic Society the photos taken in the Tortum District. It was the first ever photo-recording of Georgian architectural monuments located in that place. In 1880, in Tbilisi, on the Palace street (present-day Rustaveli Avenue) D. Ermakov set up a photographer’s studio. In 1897 he was elected a corresponding member of the Caucasian Society for Promoting Fine Arts; in 1912 he became its founding member. In 1907 he was chosen a member of the Caucasian Sector of the Moscow Archeological Society.

D. Ermakov was an ever-active person. He traveled and worked incessantly in the Oriental countries (Turkey, Iran) as well as in Georgia. He participated in a number of significant ethnographic and archeological expeditions. In 1910 he took part in the archeological expedition in Lechkhumi and Svaneti, organized by Eqvtime Takaishvili, there he took 1500 photos (among them - the pictures of the monuments, which have been destroyed later).

D. Ermakov gathered a lot of photographic material. He had taken the pictures of Georgian Military Road, the findings of Manglisi, Tsalka and Ksani Gorge archeological expeditions; monuments of Abkhazia and Tao-Klarjeti: churches of Oshki, Khakhuli, Ishkhani, Otkhta, etc. In his works he preserved the views of old Tbilisi - its streets, squares and architectural monuments. He collected the pictures taken by other photographers of that time, sorted them out thematically and compiled them in separate albums. His collection comprised many of thousand photos (the 1st catalog of his collection was published in 1896, the 2nd one – in 1901). Most of his photographic negative are preserved at the National Museum of Georgia.

D. Ermakov died in Tbilisi. He was buried at Kukia cemetery.