The biography of Pyotr Leshchenko, one of the most famous artists of the XX century, known today, consists of disparate facts, often without documentary evidence. During the life of the singer, no one thought about how important it is to fix the facts and details of his biography, besides, there was no time to do this, and there was nobody.
Not much is known for certain. In the village of Isaevo, located near Odessa, in 1898 a boy was born into a poor peasant family. And three years later his father died. The mother got married again and transported the children to Chisinau. I was lucky with my stepfather, Alexey Vasilievich was able to play musical instruments and instilled a love for this pursuit to his stepson.
In Chisinau, Petr Leshchenko sang in a church chapel and helped (as he could) his parents. With the outbreak of war, he enrolled in the ensign school and soon became an officer in the Russian army. Then participation in military events, a wound, a hospital. Not yet fully recovering, the future artist found out that now he is a subject of the Romanian crown. The fact is that Romania treacherously annexed the territory of Bessarabia to its lands, although it was a Russian ally.
The former front-line officer was forced to earn a living by all means available to him. However, he perceived the career of a joiner or dishwasher as a forced occupation. The young man dreamed of singing from the stage. Performances in the cinema "Suzanne" and "Orpheum" - the first steps towards its goal. Almost two years of this stage practice contributed to the professional development and the emergence of faith in future success.
The biography of Peter Leshchenko is connected not only with Chisinau, but also with Riga, with Paris and Odessa. At the age of twenty-five, the young artist strove to improve his professional skills. He wanted to study, and therefore left for this in the Eternal City, where there was a famous ballet school, which was taught mainly by Russian emigrant dancers. Here Peter met the Latvian Zinaida Zakis, who, despite her young age (she was 19 years old), had already achieved success in classical dance. They perform together, tour, performing joint choreographic performances, sometimes Leshchenko sings. Professional cooperation could not develop into a closer relationship, they got married.
In 1930, the biography of Petr Leshchenko makes a sharp turn. If until now he was a dancer and partner of his wife, now he is becoming a professional singer. He is 32 years old, he does not have a very strong, but pleasant voice, but this is not so important. He is popular, his vocals are great for recording, and the repertoire deserves special attention. Leshchenko succeeded in what no one could do before him. He combined the two most beloved public genres: romance and tango. The result exceeded all expectations.
In the prewar years, the biography of the singer Petr Leshchenko is quite fully illustrated by the recordings made by him on Columbia and Bellacord. He works closely with these companies; millions of records are sold everywhere: from Buenos Aires to Tokyo. For everything that does not concern music, there is no time.
Leshchenko was not interested in politics. In 1942, having arrived in Odessa occupied by Romanians, he gives concerts at the Russian Theater, and then opens his cabaret in Teatralny Lane. The biography of Petr Leshchenko is connected with the sunny Black Sea city not only in connection with creativity, but also in personal terms. It was in Odessa that he owed a new deep feeling, embracing a far from young artist. He met Vera Belousova, who became the main love of his life. But Zinaida’s wife didn’t want to give in, she wrote a letter (essentially a denunciation) to the military command, in which she recalled that her husband was a Romanian filed, and besides, a military officer. The world famous singer is dressed in a bright green overcoat, an angular Romanian army cap and sent to the Crimea, where he is entrusted with the management of the officer’s canteen and the organization of soldier's leisure. This tough measure was ineffective, in 1944 the couple divorced.
After the surrender of Romania, Leshchenko spoke to a diverse audience for eight years. He was very fond of singing for the Soviet military personnel, these concerts were held with great success. And in 1952, an employee of the Romanian counterintelligence, already communist, printed on the cover of a cardboard folder in Latin letters a name known to the whole world: “Leshchenko Petr”. The biography of the artist was replenished with another event: he was arrested.
The singer died in 1954. The circumstances of his death are unknown. Did they beat him? Apparently not. Leshchenko, most likely, was tortured with overwork and meager food. He ended up in a dungeon, probably at the request of the "Soviet comrades." What was he accused of? This also remained unclear. But records were preserved with a recording of his voice, which still gives inexplicable pleasure to lovers and connoisseurs of popular music.