When did Peter Leshchenko's first wife die? Pedigree of Peter Leshchenko

Many people today, more than half a century after the death of the great artist, are interested in the biography of Pyotr Leshchenko. This man left his mark in the hearts of many residents. former USSR. The biography of Pyotr Leshchenko is known to the older generation. However, young people are usually unfamiliar with this artist. We invite you to learn about his life and work by reading this article.

Parents of the future artist

Pyotr Konstantinovich was born in 1898, on July 3. Small Motherland Petra Leshchenko is the village of Isaevo, located near Odessa. Maria Konstantinovna, the boy's mother, was an illiterate, poor peasant woman. His father, who died when the future artist was only 3 years old, was replaced by Alfimov Alexey Vasilyevich, who became Peter’s stepfather. He was a kind, simple man who knew how and loved to play the guitar and harmonica.

Childhood

When the boy was 9 months old, he moved with his mother and her parents to a new place of residence - in Chisinau. Peter was raised at home until 1906, and then, as he had talent in music and dancing, he was taken into the soldiers' church choir. Kogan, his regent, then assigned the boy to the 7th parish public school in the city of Chisinau. At the same time, Berezovsky assigned him to the bishop's choir (Berezovsky was its regent). So by 1915 Peter received a musical and general education. Due to a change in his voice, he was unable to participate in the choir this year and was left without funds. And Peter decided to go to the front. He got a job in the 7th Don Cossack Regiment as a volunteer and served in it until November 1916. The biography of Pyotr Leshchenko continued with the fact that he was sent to Kyiv, to the infantry school for warrant officers, which he graduated from in March 1917.

Peter goes to the army and is wounded

Romania, which fought for the Entente, began to suffer defeats. To help her army, among those mobilized, Peter went to the front line ahead of schedule. Leshchenko was hospitalized after being seriously wounded. Here he met the October Revolution. Political situation in Romania has now changed: the country has unilaterally resolved a long-standing territorial dispute, annexing new lands. In 1918 (January) it occupied Bessarabia, which previously belonged to Russia.

The first years after the revolution

Thus, Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko turns out to be an unexpected emigrant. He works as a singer, a carpenter, and a dishwasher, and works part-time in cafes and cinemas. In 1918-19, for example, Leshchenko performed as an artist between sessions at the Suzanna and Orpheum cinemas.

After leaving the hospital, Peter lived for some time with his relatives. Leshchenko worked as a turner for a private owner until 1919, after which he served as a psalm-reader in the church built at the Olginsky shelter, and was also a sub-regent church choir in the cemetery and Chuflinskaya churches. At the same time, he participated in a vocal quartet and also sang at the Chisinau Opera. Included dance group under the name "Elizarov" (Antonina Kanziger, Tovbis and Danila Zeltser) from the fall of 1919, Peter performed for 4 months at the Bucharest "Alyagambra" theater. Then he wanted to feel more confident in dancing, as he felt that his professional training was lacking. Peter decided to enroll in Trefilova’s ballet school in Paris. This school was among the best in France. In 1923, Leshchenko left for Paris.

Meeting with Zinaida Zakis

Leshchenko met in the capital of France the charming Zinaida Zakis, a 19-year-old dancer. She came to this city with a choreographic ensemble from Riga. After 2 years they got married. After this, Zinaida and Pyotr Leshchenko prepared several joint song and dance numbers. His wife was a wonderful classical ballerina. She also performed solo numbers.

Touring abroad and the beginning of a solo career

In the summer of 1926, the husband and wife duo toured the countries of the Middle East and Europe and gained fame. Peter and Zinaida arrived in Chisinau in 1928, where Leshchenko introduced his wife to his stepfather, mother and sisters.

After Zinaida became pregnant, she had to temporarily leave the stage, and Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko began performing independently with concert programs. In 1931, in January, Peter had a son, Igor Leshchenko. Peter Konstantinovich began solo career 32 years old is far from a young age. Nevertheless, stunning success awaited him. The posters throughout Chisinau were soon filled with posters announcing the concerts of this artist. And flowers, recognition, and applause rained down from all sides.

Collaboration with famous composers

The singer became friends with Oscar Stroke, a famous composer who was the creator of the most popular foxtrots, romances, tangos and songs. It was he who managed to combine the intonations of Argentine tango with the sincerity and melody of Russian romance. Best works this famous composer Leshchenko performed and recorded: “Blue Rhapsody”, “Black Eyes”, “Tell Why” and other romances and tangos of the maestro. He also worked with other composers, for example, with Mark Maryanovsky, who was the author of “Nastya the Berry”, “Miranda” and “Tatyana”.

Moving to Bucharest and opening “Our House”

Leshchenko moved to Bucharest for permanent residence in the first half of the 30s. Here he sang for some time in a cafe called Galeries Lafayette.

Then Leshchenko, Cavoura and Gerutsky opened a small restaurant in Bucharest in 1933 and called it “Our House”. Gerutsky invested capital and welcomed guests. Kavoura, an experienced cook, was in charge of the kitchen, and Leshchenko created the mood in the establishment by playing the guitar. Leshchenko’s mother and stepfather received the visitors’ wardrobe. Things went well at “Our House”: there was no shortage of visitors, and due to the large number of them, we even had to think about changing the premises.

Restaurant "Leshchenko"

So on Victoria Street, the main street of Bucharest, in the fall of 1936, a new restaurant called “Leshchenko” was opened. Since Peter Konstantinovich was very popular in the city, this place was visited by refined Romanian and Russian society. A magnificent orchestra played for the guests. Zinaida made good dancers out of Peter's sisters - Katya and Valya. Everyone performed together, but Leshchenko was the highlight of the program. Alla Bayanova, who later became a famous singer, also began her career in the restaurant.

Growing popularity

Pyotr Leshchenko, whose life story interests us, collaborated with such recording companies as Columbia and Bellacord in 1935-40. During this period he released more than 100 songs, different in genre. The songs of this singer were heard on the radio, in restaurants, and at parties. Leshchenko's records even made it to the USSR. There were especially many of them in the black markets and bazaars of the Baltic states and Bessarabia, which were incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1940. However, they were not heard on Soviet radio. Leshchenko remained an emigrant.

Life of Peter Leshchenko in Romania

Peter Konstantinovich was highly respected, living among the Romanians, although he did not feel much love for them. Leshchenko often admired the musicality of this people. Peter did not smoke, but he liked to drink. His weakness was good wines and champagne, which were extremely abundant in Romania at that time. Often the singer and owner of the most fashionable restaurant in Bucharest was greeted a little drunk, which was almost unnoticeable in the atmosphere of restaurant frenzy. Peter enjoyed great success with women and was not indifferent to them. One speaks about Leshchenko’s popularity at this time interesting fact. The father of Mihai, the leader of the dynasty ruling in Romania, King Charles, often brought him to his country mansion in an armored car. He liked the romances of Peter Leshchenko.

Occupation of Odessa and visit to this city by Leshchenko

In 1940 passed last concerts this artist in Paris. In 1941, Germany attacked the Soviet Union and Romania occupied Odessa. Pyotr Leshchenko was summoned to the regiment, but he refused to fight against his people. Then he was tried by an official court, but Leshchenko was released as a popular singer.

Almost a year has passed since the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. In May 1942, singer Pyotr Leshchenko arrived in Odessa. He arrived in this city, occupied Romanian troops, May 19 and stayed at the local Bristol Hotel. On June 5, 7 and 9, Peter held solo concerts in the Russian drama theater. The real excitement began in the city: people lined up for tickets from early morning. All concerts, at the request of the Romanian command, had to begin with a song performed in Romanian. And only then the famous “Two Guitars”, “My Marusichka”, “Tatyana” sounded. The concerts ended with "Chubchik".

Meeting Vera Belousova

At the same time, Leshchenko first met Vera Belousova, who later became the singer’s wife. Slender beautiful girl with an accordion won Peter's heart. Soon they began performing together.

Service in Crimea and registration of a new marriage

Pyotr Konstantinovich was drafted into the army in October 1943. He worked in Crimea as the manager of an officers' mess and returned to Romania as Soviet troops approached.

In May 1944, Pyotr Konstantinovich officially divorced his wife Zinaida Zakis and registered his relationship with Vera Belousova. He gave concerts after the arrival of the Red Army, playing in hospitals, officers' clubs, and military garrisons. Pyotr Leshchenko also performed patriotic songs dedicated to Russian girls, which he composed himself - “Nadya-Nadechka”, “Natasha”, sang the song “Dark Night” by Bogoslovsky, as well as Russian songs popular at that time. His new wife performed with him.

Changing repertoire

Since the summer of 1948, the couple performed in various cinemas and cafes in Bucharest. Then they found work at the newly created Variety Theater. At this time, Leshchenko was already over 50 years old. His repertoire, in accordance with his age, also changed. The songs performed by Pyotr Leshchenko became more sentimental. Tempo hits such as “Nastenka” and “My Marusichka” gradually disappeared from the programs, and a taste for romances and lyrics, tinged with sadness and melancholy, appeared. Even in the record recordings made in 1944-45, a joyless tonality dominates: “Bell”, “Tramp”, “Don’t Go”, “Evening Rings”, “Mama’s Heart”, etc.

Arrest and death in prison

At the beginning of 1951, Leshchenko began another petition for his return to his homeland, to the USSR. He was arrested in March by Romanian security forces for being an officer in the army, in which the future Soviet order bearer was the commander-in-chief. By this time, Romania had transformed from an "anti-people's monarchy" into a People's Republic. Leshchenko, a Russian singer, died in 1954 in a Bucharest prison hospital, either from poisoning or from a stomach ulcer. This is where the biography of Pyotr Leshchenko ends, but his memory is still alive.

The fate of Peter's relatives

Belousova Vera Georgievna was arrested a year after this. “For treason to the Motherland” she received 25 years. The Supreme Court of the USSR in June 1954 decided to release the former Komsomol member for lack of corpus delicti. It is known that Belousova sang to the defenders of Odessa in 1941. Vera Georgievna is an Odessa native by birth. During the defense of this city, she went to the front with concerts and was even wounded during another trip. Now Vera Georgievna has been completely rehabilitated. Vera Georgievna Leshchenko performed as a singer, pianist and accordionist on many stages across the country, and sang at the Hermitage in Moscow. In the mid-80s she retired. Vera Georgievna died in 2009 in Moscow.

Valentina, Peter's sister, once saw her brother when he was being led along the street by a convoy to dig ditches. Pyotr Leshchenko noticed his sister and cried.

The children of this singer and their fate are also of interest to many. Therefore, it is impossible not to mention that his son Igor was an excellent choreographer who worked at the Bucharest Theater. He died at the age of 47.

Life path Soviet singer and dancer Pyotr Leshchenko turned out to be bright, rich, but not too long. A stingy fate gave him only 56 years, a significant part of which fell during both world wars and the difficult post-war years. Despite this, Peter Leshchenko managed to become famous for his wealth creative heritage and many legends about yourself.

More questions than answers

In July 1954, a man died in the prison hospital in Targu Ocna. Fans of the work of Pyotr Leshchenko would hardly recognize in this beaten man, exhausted by torture and hunger, their idol, who was applauded by Europe for his unique performance of the songs “Black Eyes”, “My Marusechka”, “Curly-haired forelock” and others.

The exact place where the “sweet-voiced nightingale” is buried is still unknown. Also, no one knows for sure what he died from. popular artist pre-war time: from an open stomach ulcer, poisoning or beating. Together with Peter Konstantinovich, other secrets also disappeared into oblivion.

Either an Odessa resident or a Moldovan

Biographers even find it difficult to name the exact place of birth future star stage. All that is known for sure is that Peter spent his childhood in Chisinau. The family lived modestly, if not poorly. Petya and his half-sisters were raised by their mother and stepfather. But the street became the boy’s main teacher. Here he sang for the first time for a crowd, collecting money in a dusty hat.

He did this out of annoyance at the priest, who did not give Petya, who was guilty of something, another meager “salary” for singing in the church choir. Thanks to his soulful voice, the boy earned almost as much in a day as he did in a month in church. Leshchenko is expelled from the choir for his impudent act, but this does not bother him.

Peter already understands that his singing touches the souls and hearts of people. Friendship with gypsies, gatherings around a fire on the river bank, first guitar lessons - and gypsy romances will firmly enter the life and work of the famous chansonnier. He performed them in a particularly masterly, passionate, inspired way.

A dancer is no worse than a singer

Participation in the First World War cost the 19-year-old warrant officer Leshchenko a serious injury. The long recovery in the Chisinau hospital ended after October revolution, so Peter returned home as a citizen of Romania.

He made a living in different ways. He was a turner, sang in church and cemetery choirs, and was a soloist in a vocal quartet and opera. Leshchenko went on tour as part of various pop groups.

Once in Paris, he did not miss the opportunity to graduate from Vera Trefilova’s ballet school. Here he met his first wife, Zinaida Zakitt. Their dancing couple performed successfully in restaurants in Europe and the Middle East until Zina became pregnant. The only son will be named Igor, but that will happen later. Now Peter needs to decide what to do next. And he decides to sing again.

The triumph of Europe's new idol

Leshchenko gives his first solo concert in Chisinau. Soon, in addition to his own, simple but charming songs, compositions from venerable authors of that time appeared in his repertoire. Tours in Paris, Berlin, London, Riga, Belgrade. Hits in Russian, Romanian, English and French. Huge circulations of records. It was a stunning success and rapid wealth.

Using his own funds, the “king of romances” opened his own restaurant, “U Leshchenko,” where he performed and where, without regret, he invested a lot of money. Even the Romanian royal couple admires the singing of the “sweet-voiced nightingale,” but little is known about it in the USSR. A successful emigrant is not written about in newspapers, and after World War II, the popularization of his work will become a criminal offense.

Despite this, already at the end of the 1930s, the performer’s romances were secretly listened to in many Soviet apartments. Leshchenko dreams of going to his homeland, and in 1942 he goes on tour to Nazi-occupied Odessa. There he will meet his last love and second wife Vera Belousova, a conservatory student who is younger famous singer for 25 years.

Traitor or spy

In Odessa, the enterprising singer not only gives concerts, but also opens another restaurant of his own. In the midst of the war, only the German occupiers can afford gourmet food and entertainment, so Leshchenko quickly earns a negative reputation among Soviet citizens and state security agencies. Almost 10 years later, for some reason he will be called a foreign spy.

An appeal to Joseph Stalin about returning to the USSR will only aggravate the situation of Pyotr Konstantinovich and will ensure close attention to his person. The thought of visiting the Soviet Union turns into a fixed idea.

In the early 1950s, Leshchenko receives approval, but does not have time to make the trip. During the next concert, Romanian police take him away for interrogation by representatives of the Soviet secret services.

The popular singer was taken to different prisons for 3 years, from where he never returned. Not underground, but official records with songs by Pyotr Leshchenko began to appear in the USSR only during the era of perestroika. The voice of the “king of romances” sounded again in his homeland, as the talented performer once dreamed of.

Another one famous person that time - .

Now it’s even difficult to imagine how famous Pyotr Leshchenko was in the 30s of the last century. His voice sounded all over the world, and foreign listeners were not bothered that the artist was singing in a language unknown to them. On "Favorites" - tragic story a musician to whom all of Europe sang along, but who became an enemy in his homeland.

From church choir to the army

Pyotr Leshchenko was born on June 2 (14), 1898 in the Kherson province Russian Empire. The boy grew up in Chisinau with his mother, a poor peasant woman, and his stepfather, own father he did not know. It was Alexey Vasilyevich, Peter’s stepfather, who recognized the artist in the boy and gave him his first guitar.

We can say that Pyotr Leshchenko began making money by singing from childhood - he sang in a church choir until his voice broke. And then the first one began World War and the young man found himself at the front. Judging by the artist’s diary, it was not patriotism that brought him to war, but financial position- and it almost cost him his life. In the summer of 1917, seriously wounded, he ended up in a hospital in Chisinau.

He left the hospital as a Romanian citizen - in 1918 Bessarabia was declared Romanian territory.

The first time after the hospital was not easy for him. He managed to work as a turner, a psalm-reader, and a regent in a choir at a cemetery, until he finally found a place in musical ensemble"Guslyar". The year 1919, when this happened, can be considered the beginning variety career future celebrity.

From “Guslyar” to “Black Eyes”

In the ensemble, Pyotr Leshchenko played the guitar and danced. The audience received him kindly, especially the number in which he did both - first he played the guitar and then danced lezginka.

The artist himself believed that he was not dancing well enough. He decided to improve his dance technique and enrolled in Trefilova’s ballet school, which was considered one of the best in France. Here he met his first wife, the Latvian dancer Zinaida Zakitt. At first they performed a double act in Paris restaurants, but quickly realized that they were connected by more than joint dancing. They got married, and a year later they celebrated the birth of their son Igor.

Pyotr Leshchenko and Zinaida Zakitt, 1929 Source: Public Domain

Due to his wife's pregnancy, their dance duet broke up, and 32-year-old Pyotr Leshchenko appeared on stage alone for the first time. His success was immediate and stunning.

However, considerable credit for this belonged to his friend, composer Oscar Strok, who wrote the first hits for the future star, skillfully combining the fire of Argentine tango with the soulful intonation of Russian romance. He also helped Leshchenko record his first gramophone records. This is how “Black Eyes”, “Blue Rhapsody”, “Tell me Why” appeared - songs that made their performer famous.

War, love and inexorable fate

On the eve of World War II, Leshchenko's popularity peaked. He toured throughout Europe, and everywhere his concerts were a constant success. The best recording companies in Europe opened their doors to him and his voice sounded in many homes.

The popular singer was suspected of collaborating with both the USSR state security agencies and the fascists, but he himself tried his best to stay away from politics, and even more so from the army - a military tribunal even tried him “for draft evasion.” In fact, he only wanted to sing.

He was not interested in anything other than music - that’s all he spent all his time on. But the world was already divided into “us” and “strangers” and it was impossible to remain on the sidelines.

Label from Pyotr Leshchenko's record. Source: Public Domain

He received his first summons to the front in October 1941. Under various pretexts, he avoided service and only on the third call did he finally report to the regiment in Falticeni. Here he was tried by an officer's court, and then released, warning that he was obliged to appear when summoned.

In December 1941, Pyotr Leshchenko received an invitation from the director of Odessa opera house Selyavin with a request to come to Odessa and give several concerts. In March 1942, the artist managed to obtain permission from the cultural and educational department of the Governorate, signed by Russ, to enter Odessa.

He left for Odessa, occupied by Romanian troops, on May 19, 1942, stayed at the Bristol Hotel and gave three solo concerts- June 5, 7 and 9. After familiar tangos, foxtrots, romances auditorium thanked the artist with unprecedented applause. However, Leshchenko remembered the tour in the occupied city not only for the warm reception of the public. It was then that his fateful meeting took place with new love- nineteen-year-old student of the Odessa Conservatory Vera Belousova.

He met a girl who was 24 years younger than him at a rehearsal. The romance developed rapidly - it was that same fatal passion that almost inevitably leads to tragedy. Before leaving Odessa, he proposed to Vera, without even filing a divorce from his first wife.

If he was counting on understanding from the outside ex-wife and a slight gap, he was wrong. In Bucharest, scandals and showdowns awaited him, which ended with the receipt of regular notifications from the 16th Infantry Regiment. The question of whether the offended wife had a hand in this remains open.

To avoid going to the front, the artist even had his appendix removed, although there was no need for surgery, but he was unable to get a commission. The most he managed to do was get a job in the artistic group of the 6th division and perform concerts in front of soldiers at the front. After some time, he received orders to go to Crimea, where he continued to serve as the head of the officers' canteen.

In 1944, the musician received a long-awaited vacation, and immediately went to Vera in Odessa to marry her. This marriage became fatal for the singer - in Russia Vera was considered a traitor to the Motherland.

In May 1944, he divorced Zinaida Zakitt and registered his marriage with Vera Belousova. In September 1944, after the liberation of Bucharest by the Red Army, he still gave concerts in hospitals, military garrisons, and officers' clubs. He performed patriotic songs he composed about Russian girls - “Natasha”, “Nadya-Nadechka”, sang “Dark Night” by Nikita Bogoslovsky, popular Russian songs. His new wife also performed with him. Their concerts were also attended by major military leaders - Marshals Zhukov and Konev. Nothing foreshadowed an imminent tragedy, but the countdown to it had already begun.

Arrest, camps and death

After the Victory, Leshchenko dreamed of moving to the Soviet Union. He contacted the “competent authorities” and wrote letters to Stalin and Kalinin asking for Soviet citizenship. It is difficult to understand why he did this - they made it clear to him that Vera Belousova was considered a traitor in the USSR.

His attempts to distance himself from the war, maintain neutrality and engage only in music failed - and could not have succeeded. The artist could not get away with performing concerts in front of enemy soldiers. Official Soviet propaganda during the time of Stalin characterized him: “The most vulgar and unprincipled white emigrant tavern singer, who stained himself by collaborating with the Nazi occupiers.”

On March 26, 1951, on the direct orders of the USSR Ministry of State Security, Leshchenko was arrested by the Romanian state security authorities during the intermission after the first part of the concert in Brasov and taken to prison near Bucharest.

Vera Belousova was arrested that same summer for speaking in occupied Odessa. She was sentenced to 25 years, but was released in 1953 for lack of evidence of a crime.

But Peter Konstantinovich’s fate overtook him. Many years later, his wife learned that he became one of the thousands of builders of the Danube Canal in Romania and died on July 16, 1954 for reasons that are not fully understood - either from illness or from poisoning. The location of his grave is also unknown. The archives of the Soviet and Romanian KGB on the Leshchenko case have not yet been examined.

“Chubchik”, “Captain”, “At the samovar me and my Masha”, “Black Eyes” - these are just a small part of the timeless hits performed by the legendary musician Pyotr Leshchenko.

In the first half of the 20th century, the easily recognizable voice of Pyotr Leshchenko sounded in different corners world, and the listeners were not embarrassed that the artist was singing in a language unfamiliar to them. The main thing is how he does it. We remember tragic life a musician to whom all of Europe sang along, but in his homeland he was banned...

From the church choir to the war

Scene instead of service