Alexander Vertinsky (Russian pronounced here) was a Soviet-era cabaret artist, singer, composer, actor and poet who exerted seminal influence on the Russian tradition of artistic singing.
Alexander was born on March 21, 1889, in Kiev, Russian Empire [now Ukraine][1] His parents were Nikola Petrovych and Yevgenia Stepanivna Skolatska. They were not officially married as Nikola's first wife did not grant him a divorce.[2]
His parents died from tuberculosis when he was young, and he and his sister Nadiya were adopted by their mother's sister into different families. Oleksandr was told that his sister had died.[2]
In 1909-1910, he moved to Moscow to find a career in the arts. He started playing small roles in plays. He served on the front lines as a paramedic from 1914-1915, and then returned to Moscow after a minor injury. By 1917, he was popular across Russia, and had toured most major cities of the Russian Empire. However after the Bolsheviks took power, he decided he could not get along with the new government. In 1920, he left first for Constantinople, and other European and middle eastern countries.[2]
He married Nadia Potocki in Germany around 1923-1925; she was the daughter of Russian emigrants. The marriage did not work out and they quickly separated.[2]
He then lived in Paris, France for ten years, from 1925-1934, where he was very happy, and composed many of his best songs. In 1934, he went to America, and in 1935 to China, in particular to the large emigrant community in Shanghai.[2]
He married Lidia Volodymyrivna Tsirgvava in China in 1942. She was 20 years old. They were able to return to Moscow in 1943. They had two daughters, Mariana (1943) and Anastasia (1944).[2]
Olexandr Vertinsky died on May 21, 1957 in the Leningrad Astoria Hotel in Leningrad, Russian Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR [now St. Petersburg, Russia]. He was buried in Moscow, at the Novodivochi cemetery.[2]
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Categories: Novodevichye kladbishche, Moscow, Russia | Stage Actors | Soviet Notables | Ukraine, Notables | Notables