Vitachek, Evgenii

Born Apr. 29, 1880, in Sklenafice, Bohemia; died Feb. 16, 1946, in Moscow. Soviet violin master craftsman. A Czech by nationality. Honored Art Worker of the RSFSR (1932).

Vitachek was born into the family of an instrumental craftsman. He lived in Kiev from 1895 and in Moscow from 1898. In 1918 he organized the first State School for Violin Craftsmen, and in 1919 he became the custodian and expert for the State Collection of Musical Instruments. From 1924 to 1931 he was a scientific worker at the State Institute of Musical Science, and in 1930 he became head of the experimental laboratory for bowed instruments of the Moscow Conserva-tory. He made over 400 instruments (including his own special kind of violin, viola, and cello), which were outstanding examples of bowed instruments. He developed his own principles for the harmonious tuning of soundboards. In 1913 and 1926 his instruments won the highest awards at the All-Russian Competition of String Instruments.

The Czech writer M. Kot’atkova wrote a novel about his life and work entitled The Violin Maker Went East (1954).