Friedrich Jürgenson

Friedrich Jürgenson (1903-1987) was born in Odessa on February 8th, 1903. His mother was Swedish and his father was of Danish descent, practising as a physician in Odessa where the family had moved from Estonia. After living through World War One and the Russian Revolution as a child, Jürgenson trained as a painter at the Art Academy and as a singer and musician at the Odessa Conservatory, where he was a contemporary of the concerto pianist Svjatoslav Richter.