Yuri Borisovich Levitan
Yuri Levitan ( Russian Юрий Борисович Левитан ; born September 19 . Jul / 2. October 1914 greg. In Vladimir , Russian Empire ; † 4. August 1983 in Bessonowka , Belgorod Oblast ) was a Soviet radio announcer.
Among other things, he announced the beginning and end of the German-Soviet War , the death of Josef Stalin and the first manned space flight of Yuri Gagarin in 1961 on the radio .
biography
Levitan was born in Vladimir, the son of a tailor and a housewife. In the early 1930s, he traveled to Moscow in hopes of becoming an actor but was turned down because of his provincial nature. But because of his characteristic deep voice, he got a job at a Moscow radio station. After Joseph Stalin heard a broadcast from him in January 1934, he called the radio station and asked that Levitan should read his announcements from now on. As a result, Levitan became not only the personal spokesman for Stalin, but a leading Soviet radio personality.
After the German invasion of 1941, Levitan was evacuated to Yekaterinburg as Moscow radio stations were dismantled to avoid German bombing. At the time, he lived in a secret place because of his importance as the nation's leading radio personality. In March 1943 he was secretly transported to Samara , where the Soviet Radio Committee met. Despite the distance to Moscow over the years, his reports always began with his trademark "Warning, this is Moscow speaking!" (Russian: Внимание, говорит Москва). Levitan made around 2,000 radio reports during the war and many of them weren't recorded until the 1950s when he reproduced them in the studio for archival purposes.
After the war, Levitan reported on events in Red Square and state announcements. Between 1978 and 1983 he announced the annual minute of silence to commemorate Victory Day in the Soviet Union. In 1980 he was awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR . He died of a heart attack in 1983 and was buried in the famous Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Olga Belenitskaya: Moscow is speaking: The voice that brought hope to a nation . April 16, 2015. Accessed April 23, 2016.
Web links
- Article Yuri Borissowitsch Lewitan in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (BSE) , 3rd edition 1969–1978 (Russian)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Levitan, Yuri Borissowitsch |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Левитан, Юрий Борисович (Russian spelling) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Soviet radio announcer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 2, 1914 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Vladimir , Russian Empire |
| DATE OF DEATH | 4th August 1983 |
| Place of death | Bessonowka , Belgorod Oblast |