Boris Gutnikov (Boris Lvovich Gutnikov) was a Soviet violinist and music educator, born on July 4, 1931, in Vitebsk. He studied at the Rimsky-Korsakov Leningrad Conservatory with Yuri Eidlin, graduating in 1954 and completing postgraduate studies in 1958. In March 1943, he performed at a concert for young musicians in Tashkent marking the conservatory’s 80th anniversary.
Gutnikov won the International Violin Competition named after Josef Slavík and František Ondříček in Prague in 1956, followed by the Long-Thibaud Competition in Paris in 1957. In 1962, he received first prize at the second International Tchaikovsky Competition. He was named an Honored Artist of the RSFSR in 1962 and a People’s Artist of the RSFSR in 1979.
From 1958, Gutnikov taught at the Rimsky-Korsakov Leningrad Conservatory, where he became a professor in 1973. He toured widely across the Soviet Union and abroad. He was regarded as a representative of the St. Petersburg–Leningrad violin school, and his playing was noted for its expressive tone, phrasing, and balance of expression and musical logic. International music publications ranked him among the leading violinists of the 20th century.
Gutnikov died in Leningrad on April 6, 1986, aged 54, and was buried at Serafimovskoe Cemetery. His wife, Emma Zhokhova, was a pianist, and their son, Arkady Gutnikov, became a violinist.