Poliakin, Miron Borisovich

Born Jan. 31 (Feb. 12), 1895, in Cherkassy; died May 21, 1941, in Moscow. Soviet violinist and teacher. Honored Art Worker of the RSFSR (1940).

Poliakin studied as a child with his father, a violinist and conductor. From 1904 to 1908 he studied at the School of Music and Drama in Kiev, and from 1908 to 1918 in L. S. Auer’s violin class at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. He began concertizing in 1909, appearing in Western Europe and the USA in the period 1918–26. One of the most famous representatives of the St. Petersburg violin school, which affirmed the international importance of Russian violin playing, Poliakin taught at the Leningrad Conservatory, where he became a professor in 1928. Beginning in 1936, he taught at the Moscow Conservatory. His students included M. I. Fikhtengol’ts and M. S. Kozolupova.