In Moscow, on the 81st year of his life, the famous opera singer Zurab Sotkilava. On this Monday, September 18, said the general director of the Bolshoi Theater Vladimir Urin. "With the passing of Zurab Sotkilava the whole epoch is passing away. And this is not a word, but in fact it is, "- quotes the words of Urin RIA Novosti news agency.

Two years ago, the singer was diagnosed with a pancreatic tumor. After the operation in one of the clinics in Germany, he continued treatment in Russia and in March 2017 gave his last concert.

Sotkilava was born in 1937 in Sukhumi. He was supposed to be a football player: at the age of 16 he played for the main part of the Sukhumi Dynamo, was captain of the junior team of Georgia. But a serious injury forced him to abandon his sports career. After graduating from the Tbilisi Polytechnic Institute in 1960, Sotkilava entered the Tbilisi Conservatoire. Five years later he became a soloist of the Georgian Theater of Opera and Ballet named Paliashvili, and in 1973 made his debut at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, performing the part of Jose in the opera "Carmen".