Nikolai Fedorovich Bortnikov was born in Verny, Kazakhstan in 1916. He studied at the Tashkent Art College until 1936 and at the Surikov Institute of Art in Moscow until 1950. He began exhibiting his works in 1936. He was active in Simferopol, Crimea. He taught at the Simferopol Art College from 1950 to 1953. Bortnikov is also known as a graphic artist.
