Fictional life: a series about the artist Petr Leshchenko reached Russian television screens. R

Many today, more than half a century after the death of the great artist, are interested in the biography of Peter Leshchenko. This man left his mark on the hearts of many people former USSR. The biography of Peter Leshchenko is known to the older generation. However, young people with this artist, as a rule, are unfamiliar. We invite you to learn about his life and work by reading this article.

Parents of the future artist

Peter Konstantinovich was born in 1898, on July 3. Small homeland Petra Leshchenko - the village of Isaevo, located near Odessa. Maria Konstantinovna, the boy's mother, was an illiterate poor peasant woman. The father, who died when the future artist was only 3 years old, was replaced by Alexei Vasilyevich Alfimov, who became Peter's stepfather. He was a kind, simple man who knew how and loved to play the guitar and harmonica.

Childhood

When the boy was 9 months old, he moved with his mother and her parents to a new place of residence - to Chisinau. Until 1906, Peter was brought up at home, and then, as he had the ability in music and dancing, he was taken to the soldier's church choir. Kogan, his regent, then assigned the boy to the 7th parish public school in the city of Chisinau. Berezovsky at the same time appointed him to the bishops' choir (Berezovsky was his regent). So by 1915, Peter received a musical and general education. Due to a voice change this year, he could not participate in the choir and was left without funds. And Peter decided to go to the front. He got a job in the 7th Don Cossack Regiment as a volunteer and served in it until November 1916. The biography of Peter Leshchenko continued with the fact that he was sent to Kyiv, to the infantry ensign school, which he graduated in March 1917.

Peter goes to the army and gets wounded

Romania, which fought for the Entente, began to suffer defeats. To help her army, among those mobilized, Peter went to the front line ahead of schedule. Leshchenko, after being seriously wounded, ended up in the hospital. Here he met October revolution. The political situation in Romania has now changed: the country has unilaterally resolved a long-standing territorial dispute by annexing new lands. In 1918 (January) she occupied Bessarabia, which previously belonged to Russia.

First years after the revolution

Thus, Petr Konstantinovich Leshchenko turns out to be an emigrant unexpectedly for himself. He works as a singer, a carpenter, and a dishwasher, earns extra money in cafes and cinemas. In 1918-19, for example, Leshchenko acted as an artist between sessions at the Susanna and Orpheum cinemas.

After leaving the hospital, Peter lived for some time with his relatives. Leshchenko until 1919 worked as a turner for a private trader, after which he served as a psalmist in the church built at the Olginsky shelter, and was also sub-director of the church choir in the cemetery and Chuflinskaya churches. At the same time, he participated in a vocal quartet, and also sang at the Chisinau Opera. As part of dance group under the name "Elizarov" (Antonina Kanziger, Tovbis and Danila Zeltser) since the autumn of 1919, Peter performed for 4 months at the Alyahambra theater in Bucharest. Then he wanted to feel more confident in the dance, as he felt the lack of his professional training. Peter decided to enter Trefilova's ballet school in Paris. This school was among the best in France. In 1923 Leshchenko left for Paris.

Meeting with Zinaida Zakis

Leshchenko met in the capital of France with the charming Zinaida Zakis, a 19-year-old dancer. She came with a choreographic ensemble from Riga to this city. After 2 years they got married. After that, they prepared several joint song and dance numbers Zinaida and Petr Leshchenko. His wife was an excellent classical ballerina. She also performed solo numbers.

Touring abroad and the beginning of a solo career

The duet of the spouses in the summer of 1926 toured the countries of the Middle East and Europe and gained fame. Peter and Zinaida arrived in Chisinau in 1928, where Leshchenko introduced his wife to his stepfather, mother and sisters.

After Zinaida became pregnant, she had to temporarily leave the stage, and Leshchenko Petr Konstantinovich began to perform independently with concert programs. In 1931, in January, Peter had a son, Igor Leshchenko. Peter Konstantinovich began solo career 32 years old is far from a young age. Nevertheless, he expected resounding success. Posters throughout Chisinau were soon filled with posters announcing the concerts of this artist. And flowers, confessions, applause rained down from all sides.

Collaboration with famous composers

The singer became friends with Oscar Strok, a famous composer who was the creator of the most popular foxtrots, romances, tangos and songs. It was he who managed to combine intonations argentine tango with the sincerity and melodiousness of the Russian romance. The best works Leshchenko performed and recorded this famous composer: "Blue Rhapsody", "Black Eyes", "Tell me why" and other romances and tango maestro. He also worked with other composers, for example, with Mark Maryanovsky, who was the author of "Nastya-berries", "Miranda" and "Tatiana".

Moving to Bucharest and opening of "Our house"

Leshchenko in the first half of the 30s moved to Bucharest for permanent residence. Here he sang for some time in a café called the Galeries Lafayette.

Then Leshchenko, Kavura and Gerutsky opened a small restaurant in 1933 in Bucharest and called it "Our House". Gerutsky invested capital and met guests. Kavura, an experienced cook, was in charge of the kitchen, and Leshchenko created the mood in the establishment by playing the guitar. Leshchenko's mother and stepfather received the visitors' wardrobe. Things went well in "Our House": there was no shortage of visitors, due to the large number of them, we even had to think about changing the premises.

Restaurant "Leshchenko"

So on Victoria Street, the main street of Bucharest, in the fall of 1936, a new restaurant called "Leshchenko" was opened. Since Peter Konstantinovich was very popular in the city, this place was visited by an exquisite Romanian and Russian society. A magnificent orchestra played to the guests. Zinaida did good dancers from the sisters of Peter - Katya and Vali. They all performed together, but Leshchenko was highlight of the program. Alla Bayanova, who later became a famous singer, also began her career in the restaurant.

Growing popularity

Petr Leshchenko, whose life story interests us, in 1935-40 collaborated with such record companies as Columbia and Bellacord. He released more than 100 songs during this period, different in genre. And on the radio, and in restaurants, and at parties, the songs of this singer sounded. Leshchenko's records even got to the USSR. There were especially many of them in the black markets and bazaars of the Baltic and Bessarabia, which were included in the Soviet Union in 1940. However, they did not sound on Soviet radio. Leshchenko was still an emigrant.

Life of Petr Leshchenko in Romania

Peter Konstantinovich was highly respected, living among the Romanians, although he did not feel much love for them. Leshchenko often admired the musicality of this people. Peter did not smoke, but he liked to drink. His weakness was good wines and champagne, which were extremely plentiful at that time in Romania. Often the singer and owner of the most fashionable restaurant in Bucharest was met a little drunk, which was almost imperceptible in the atmosphere of the restaurant frenzy. Peter enjoyed great success with women and was not indifferent to them. One speaks about Leshchenko's popularity at this time interesting fact. The father of Mihai, the leader of the ruling dynasty in Romania, King Charles often brought him to his country mansion in an armored car. He liked the romances of Petr Leshchenko.

Occupation of Odessa and Leshchenko's visit to this city

In 1940, the last concerts of this artist took place in Paris. In 1941 on Soviet Union Germany attacked, Romania occupied Odessa. Pyotr Leshchenko was called to the regiment, but he refused to fight against his people. Then he was judged by an officer court, but Leshchenko was released as a popular singer.

Almost a year has passed since the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. In May 1942, the singer Petr Leshchenko arrived in Odessa. He arrived in this city, occupied by Romanian troops, on May 19 and stayed at the local Bristol Hotel. On June 5, 7 and 9 Peter spent solo concerts in Russian drama theater. The real excitement began in the city: queues for tickets lined up from early in the morning. All concerts, at the request of the command of Romania, had to begin with a song performed in Romanian. And only then the famous "Two Guitars", "My Marusichka", "Tatiana" sounded. The concerts ended with "Chubchik".

Acquaintance with Vera Belousova

At the same time, Leshchenko first met Vera Belousova, who later became the singer's wife. A slender beautiful girl with an accordion won the heart of Peter. They soon began performing together.

Service in the Crimea and registration of a new marriage

Peter Konstantinovich in October 1943 was drafted into the army. He worked in the Crimea as the head of the officers' canteen and returned to Romania with the approach of Soviet troops.

Peter Konstantinovich in May 1944 officially divorced his wife Zinaida Zakis and registered a relationship with Vera Belousova. He gave concerts after the arrival of the Red Army, playing in hospitals, officers' clubs, military garrisons. Also, Petr Leshchenko performed patriotic songs dedicated to Russian girls, which he composed himself - "Nadya-Nadechka", "Natasha", sang the song "Dark Night" by Bogoslovsky, as well as Russian songs popular at that time. His new wife performed with him.

Changing the repertoire

Spouses from the summer of 1948 performed in various cinemas and cafes in Bucharest. Then they found work at the Variety Theater, which had just been created. At this time, Leshchenko was already over 50 years old. His repertoire, in line with his age, has also changed. Songs performed by Petr Leshchenko became more sentimental. Tempo hits such as "Nastenka" and "My Marusichka" gradually left the programs, a taste for romances and lyrics, colored with sadness and melancholy, appeared. Even in the records made in 1944-45, a joyless tone dominates: "Bell", "Tramp", "Don't Go", "Evening Bells", "Mother's Heart", etc.

Arrest and death in prison

At the beginning of 1951, Leshchenko began another petition for his return to his homeland, to the USSR. He was arrested in March by the Romanian security forces for being an officer in the army, in which the future Soviet order bearer was the commander-in-chief. By this time, Romania had turned from an "anti-popular monarchy" into People's Republic. Leshchenko, a Russian singer, died in 1954 in a prison hospital in Bucharest either from poisoning or from a stomach ulcer. This ends the biography of Peter Leshchenko, but the memory of him is still alive.

The fate of Peter's relatives

Belousova Vera Georgievna was arrested a year after that. "For treason to the Motherland" she received 25 years. The Supreme Court of the USSR in June 1954 ruled to release the former Komsomol member for lack of corpus delicti. It is known that Belousova sang to the defenders of Odessa in 1941. Vera Georgievna is from Odessa by birth. During the defense of this city, she went to the front with concerts and was even wounded during the next trip. Now Vera Georgievna is fully rehabilitated. Leshchenko Vera Georgievna performed as a singer, pianist and accordionist on many stages of the country, she sang in the Hermitage in Moscow. She retired in the mid-80s. Vera Georgievna died in 2009 in Moscow.

Valentina, Peter's sister, once saw her brother when he was being led along the street by a convoy to dig ditches. Petr Leshchenko noticed his sister and cried.

The children of this singer and their fate are also of interest to many. Therefore, it is impossible not to mention that his son Igor was an excellent choreographer who worked in the Bucharest theater. He died at the age of 47.

In October 1943, a new order from the Romanian command: send Leshchenko to the front in the Crimea. In the Crimea, until mid-March 1944, he was at the headquarters, and then the head of the officer's canteen. Then he gets a vacation, but instead of Bucharest he comes to Odessa. He learns that the Belousov family should be sent to Germany. Petr Leshchenko takes away his future wife, her mother and two brothers in Bucharest.

In May 1944, Leshchenko registered his marriage with Vera Belousova. In September 1944, after the Red Army entered Bucharest, Leshchenko gave concerts in hospitals, military garrisons, officer clubs for Soviet soldiers. Vera Leshchenko also performed with him.

Arrest, prison and death (1951-1954)

On March 26, 1951, Leshchenko was arrested by the Romanian state security authorities during the intermission after the first part of the concert in the city of Brasov.

From Romanian sources: Petr Leshchenko was in Zhilava from March 1951, then in July 1952 he was transferred to a distributor in Cape Midia, (Kapul Midia), from there on August 29, 1953 to Borgesti, a province of Moldova. On May 21 or 25, 1954, he was transferred to the Tirgu Okna prison hospital. He underwent surgery for an open stomach ulcer.

There is a protocol of interrogation of Pyotr Leshchenko, from which it is clear that in July 1952, Pyotr Leshchenko was transferred to Constanta (near Cape Midia) and interrogated as a witness in the case of Vera Belousova-Leshchenko, who was accused of treason.

P.K. Leshchenko died in the Romanian prison hospital Tirgu-Okna on July 16, 1954. The materials on the Leshchenko case are still closed.

In July 1952, the arrest of Vera Belousova-Leshchenko followed. She was accused of marrying a foreign national, which qualified as treason (Article 58-1 "A" of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR, criminal case No. 15641-p). Vera Belousova-Leshchenko was sentenced to death on August 5, 1952, which was commuted to 25 years in prison, released in 1954: “Prisoner Belousova-Leshchenko should be released with the removal of her criminal record with a trip to Odessa on July 12, 1954,” an order with reference to the decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the USSR, the first reference to reduce the term to 5 years was to the Resolution of the Supreme Court of June 1954, and the second "to release from custody."

Leshchenko's widow managed to get the only information from Romania:

LESCENCO, PETRE.ARTIST. ARESTAT. A MURIT?N TIMPUL DETENIEI, LA. PENITENCIARUL T?RGU OCNA. (LESHCHENKO, PYOTR. ARTIST. PRISONER. DIED WHILE STAY IN TYRGU OKNA PRISON).

(From the Book of the Repressed, published in Bucharest)

The biography was compiled according to the protocols of the interrogation of Peter Leshchenko and archival documents provided by the widow of Peter Leshchenko - Vera Leshchenko.

Resurgence in popularity in 1988

There was no official permission for the appearance of the voice of Peter Konstantinovich on the air in the late 80s of the last century, they simply stopped prohibiting it. Recordings of songs performed by Leshchenko began to sound on Soviet radio. Then there were programs and articles about him. In 1988, the Melodiya company released the disc "Pyotr Leshchenko Sings", which was called the sensation of the month. In May, the disc took 73rd place in the all-Union hit parade, and in a couple of weeks it took first place in popularity among giant discs. For the first time, Petr Leshchenko was legally named the best.

“The sensation began to mature when from many cities of the country information began to come from our correspondents about the great interest of music lovers in the record of Pyotr Leshchenko, the famous chansonnier of the 30s. Few people could have imagined that the disc, which took 73rd place in May, would rapidly move up in June to the top of popularity, and eventually come out on top in the all-Union hit parade ...

This is how the top ten of the table of popularity among giant discs looks like (the position in the last month is indicated in brackets):

1. (73) P. Leshchenko.
2. (8) Group "Alisa", disc "Energy".
3. (5) Rainbow Group.
4. (15) Group "Bravo".
5. (-) Archive of popular music. Issue 4 ("The Rolling Stones").
6. (13) Aquarium group, Equinox disc.
7. (-) Yuri Loza.
8. (-) Oscar Peterson.
9. (2) Leningrad rock club.
10. (9) Laima Vaikule sings.

But before the meeting with him, which so changed the fate of Leshchenko, it was still so far away! First, Petr Leshchenko performs with his wife in cafes and cinemas, moreover, rather, as a dancing partner for Zakis. While his wife is changing clothes for a new number, he sings to the audience with a guitar, sings, like all dancers, "on a short breath." The voice is not strong, the rooms are large and often with poor acoustics, the audience is inattentive, everyone understands that this singing is so simple while the dancer changes her stage appearance.
Much later, Leshchenko would establish the reputation of a "record singer", who really revealed himself in the studio. Or it needed some kind of chamber atmosphere and an attentive audience.
In the end, Leshchenko was lucky. He was invited to sing in the house famous doctor Solomir. The famous otolaryngologist saved many singers for the stage, among his grateful patients were Sobinov and Chaliapin. In the cozy living room of Solomir, Leshchenko made his debut as a singer in front of a select audience. Among his listeners was the famous Oscar Borisovich Strok.
A fruitful collaboration between the singer and the composer began.
In 1932, two Englishmen were captivated by Leshchenko's singing, and he recorded his songs in London.

Prosperity

For a short period of time, Petr Leshchenko sang more than sixty records. And he returned in 1933 to Bucharest with his wife, son and considerable fortune.
In the autumn of 1936, the Leshchenko restaurant opened on the main street of Bucharest, decorated with a truly Russian scale. It was a family business in the full sense of the word: Peter sang and carried out general management of the business, Katya and Valya danced, and his mother and stepfather were in charge of the wardrobe. Among the artistic forces that Leshchenko attracted to perform at his restaurant was the young Alla Bayanova.
home concert program Leshchenko's speech began at midnight. Champagne flowed like water, all the nobility of Bucharest danced to his singing and had fun in the restaurant until six in the morning. True, there is evidence that during the performances of Peter Konstantinovich himself not only did not dance, but even stopped drinking and chewing.
Petr Leshchenko was the star of bohemia and light of the Romanian capital. More than once an armored car took him to the villa to King Karol, big fan his talent.
Not only in the palace of the Romanian monarch, but also in the homes of ordinary Soviet citizens, cheerful and languid songs and Leshchenko's tango were endlessly "chased". But few of our citizens were aware that it was not the voice of Leshchenko himself (his records were confiscated by Soviet customs) that sounded from the records, but the voice of the singer Nikolai Markov, the soloist of the Jazz Tabaknikov ensemble. Worked in this team for a while famous composer Boris Fomin. The income of the creators of these counterfeit products was measured by suitcases of money!
However, the recognition of the Romanian king and the Soviet people did not at all make Leshchenko a “serious” singer in the eyes of aesthetes. A. Vertinsky called him a "restaurant singer" and treated Leshchenko's work extremely dismissively.
And is Vertinsky alone? Once Fedor Ivanovich Chaliapin himself looked into Leshchenko's restaurant in Bucharest. The owner sang all night for the eminent guest, and then asked how he found his singing. “Yes, you sing silly songs well!” Chaliapin answered imposingly.
Leshchenko was terribly offended at first. But his friends assured him that great singer praised him: the songs were often really stupid

"Sleep, my poor heart"

Increasingly, German officers became guests of the restaurant. They behaved very correctly, they applauded the singer with pleasure. It is unlikely that Petr Leshchenko, far from politics, immediately saw in the rapprochement of Romania and Nazi Germany a threat to himself as well. More than once, the singer ignored the summons that ordered him to appear at the military training camp.
In 1941, Romania, together with Germany, entered the war with the USSR. The question of conscripting Leshchenko into the Romanian army has not yet been raised, but it was about giving a series of concerts in the occupied Soviet territory. Pyotr Konstantinovich agreed, not realizing what this would be fraught with for him both in the very near future and in the more distant future.
In May 1942 he gave several concerts in occupied Odessa. The concerts had to start with a repertoire in Romanian, because Peter Leshchenko was a subject of the Romanian king. But then came the turn of the Russian repertoire, and then the hall burst into applause. For several hours the listeners forgot about the war and the occupation.
At one of the concerts, he saw in the front row a dazzling beautiful girl. After the concert, they started talking. The girl's name was Vera Belousova, she studied at the Odessa Conservatory.
Their romance developed rapidly. It seemed that there was no age gap of a quarter of a century between him and her!

We appeal to everyone who can help in finding people who knew Petr Leshchenko, a popular singer in Romania in the 30-50s. Perhaps there are materials, documents related to this artist. His wife Vera Leshchenko, who performed with him on stage, unsuccessfully tried to find out where her husband was buried. Here is a letter she wrote a week before she passed away:

“I, Vera Leshchenko, married Petr Leshchenko, a singer beloved in Romania, and came with him to Bucharest in 1944. Until 1952 I lived in Bucharest. On tour performances in Romania, I accompanied my husband, in concerts I accompanied him on the accordion, we also sang in a duet, I also had solo numbers. In 1951, in Brasov, during the intermission of a group concert, the Romanian secret services arrested my husband. I managed to see him in Zhilava, where Pyotr Konstantinovich was kept under arrest. Then he told me: “I am not guilty of anything. I'll be home soon". I did not wait for my beloved, as I was arrested by the Soviet special services in 1952 and taken under escort to Constanta. There they sentenced me to death, then they replaced me with 25 years "for treason." What did it mean? Petr Leshchenko was a Romanian subject, but marriage to a foreigner, according to Soviet laws, was regarded as treason. Pyotr Leshchenko was also brought to Constanta, where I was judged by the Soviet "troika". In my file there is his interrogation. At night I heard his screams, heard how he was beaten, but we were not allowed to meet. I was sent to Russia, to the Ivdel camp. I was enrolled in a camp concert group. Stalin died and in 1954 I was released, but only 10 years later I was fully rehabilitated. I began to seek the rehabilitation of the name of Peter Leshchenko. They began to write about him and release his records in Russia. But I can't find his grave. I know that Igor died. At my request, my friend was at his grave. Bowed to his memory. He was a very nice boy. I know that a lot of bad things were said about me, but my conscience is clear in front of everyone. After the camp, I worked as a soloist in various Soviet concert organizations. Long years I tried to find out about my husband, where is he? I was informed that Piotr had passed away, that for the last year he had been in the prison hospital of Targnu Okna. last information became available after the Romanian archives of the Securitate with information about prisoners were opened and published. There is an entry about Petr Leshchenko, an artist who died in 1954 on July 16 in Tirgnu Okna. I am 86 years old. With the help of friends, I managed to restore my husband's good name in Russia. His CDs began to be published, songs performed by him on the radio, but official, were heard. I wrote petitions to many authorities in order to obtain reliable information about Pyotr Konstantinovich. I also contacted Electrocord in Bucharest, I wanted to know if the recordings of the last disc that we recorded with Petr before his arrest were preserved. Alas, all my letters remained unanswered. In November, a month ago (approx. 2009) a book of my memories of my beloved Petya was published. But I still don't know the truth about his last days, I don't know where he is buried. I count on the kindness and responsiveness of the Romanian people. All these years I have been living in the hope of finding my husband's grave. I was told that Peter was beaten by the Romanian guards when he refused to sing for them. I don't believe the Romanians loved Peter very much." I knew very little about Igor, the son of Peter Konstantinovich. I wished him only the best and never claimed anything, in the sense of inheritance. I only needed the truth about Petr Leshchenko for the official rehabilitation of his name, for the removal of illegal accusations against him. He was kind and honest man. He loved Russia and was attached with all his heart to Romania and its people, among whom he spent most of his life. He did not try to hide, to escape, because he knew that he was clean and had never violated the law. Help me recover the truth. Petr Leshchenko deserves this, because his songs are still alive, his name is remembered. Please, if you have any information about Petr Leshchenko, write to me. I would be very grateful, with hope, Vera Leshchenko Moscow, Russia. December 15, 2009".

*****

"Komsomolskaya Pravda" shortly before her death communicated with Vera Georgievna Belousova. After all, the story of her love with famous person last century is very interesting. Their age difference was 25 years. And Petr Leshchenko, a citizen of Romania, then an enemy country, was considered a banned artist in the Soviet Union. But nothing could stop their passionate love.

The meeting that changed my life

Vera Georgievna Belousova, at the age of 85, until her last days kept a blog on the Internet, corresponded with fans of Petr Leshchenko's work. In October, her book of memoirs about the artist "Tell me why?" was published. Thought about making a movie about ten years life together with Petr Leshchenko. But the heart of a courageous woman could not stand it.

Vera Georgievna herself is from Odessa. It was there that she met Peter Konstantinovich. Then, in May 1942, Romanian fascists ruled in Odessa, and the invaders invited Peter Leshchenko to give a concert. The meeting took place at a rehearsal at the Russian Drama Theatre. Seeing a pretty 19-year-old girl, Leshchenko asked Vera to sing, and during her performance he immediately fell in love, although their age difference was 25 years, and his wife and 11-year-old son were waiting for him at home.

Later, the musicians said that there were tears in the eyes of Peter Konstantinovich when I sang. - Vera Georgievna recalled. - After the concert, Peter Konstantinovich found me and came to me that evening. We sat for a long time, but only he spoke. He told me and my mother how, having stepped on his native land, he knelt down, took the land of Odessa in his palms and kissed it. We saw that there was no leavened patriotism in this. Before us was a man yearning for his land. So Peter Konstantinovich remained. Not immediately, of course, he was delicate.

Pyotr Leshchenko no longer wanted to return to his wife. He looked after Verochka, gave flowers. Wife, artist Zinaida Zakit, did not want to divorce. Pyotr Leshchenko still did not return, he began to live in the apartment of his beloved.

Since the time was military, Peter Leshchenko, like all men, was called to fight. But he didn't want to do it. Biographies of Leshchenko say that he ignored subpoenas several times and was left behind because he was a prominent figure. However, it wasn't quite like that.

In April 1943, in order to again avoid being drafted into the active Romanian army, at the suggestion of a doctor friend, Leshchenko agreed to a false operation to remove the appendix. He was made an incision on the operating table and immediately stitched up. My mother, who worked in this hospital, told me about this. - admits the well-known Odessa journalist and kaveenshchik Sergey Ostashko.

Thus, Leshchenko spent ten days in the hospital and 25 days on vacation. He did not want to part with his beloved Vera, to make her unhappy in the event of her death, and, most importantly, against his heart and soul there was a war with Soviet people. But then again the warriors took him up. And then Petr Leshchenko managed to get a job in a military artistic group, with which he performed in Romanian military units, and from October 1943 until mid-March 1944, Leshchenko served as head of the dining room at the headquarters of an infantry regiment in Kerch.

The fortuneteller was afraid to tell about death

In May 1944, Pyotr Leshchenko finally divorced Zinaida Zakit and registered his marriage with Vera Belousova. The newlyweds moved from Odessa to Bucharest. They began to go on tour together, perform in theaters and restaurants in Romania. But in parallel, Pyotr Konstantinovich wrote letters to Stalin and Kalinin with a request to facilitate the return to the Soviet Union. This played a detrimental role. In March 1951, Peter Konstantinovich was arrested right during a concert in the Romanian city of Brasov.

The Romanians loved him very much, so, I thought, they would figure it out and let him go. - said Vera Georgievna. - At first, the sister of Peter Konstantinovich Valya and O-dad, as his stepfather's family was called, took care of me, even spent the first days with me. Valya and I went to the fortuneteller, who laid out the cards, then abruptly shuffled them and went to the fire to cook porridge from hominy. And she threw us: “I can’t say anything.” We left not understanding what had happened. Either the cards foreshadowed trouble, or the most famous soothsayer in Romania changed her mind about getting involved with the political.

In 1952, Vera Belousova was also arrested as the wife of an enemy of the people. The sentence was horrendous: 25 years in prison. However, in 1953 she was released for lack of corpus delicti and continued her artistic activities. Peter Konstantinovich died in a Romanian camp in the summer of 1954 under secret circumstances. There are two versions of death: stomach ulcer, poisoning. It is still unknown where the grave of Pyotr Leshchenko is located. Before last day Vera Georgievna tried to dig up true details about recent years the life of her beloved husband, but all sources of this information in Romania remain classified. And Vera Georgievna had one more dream. In Chisinau, both the street and the lane are named after Petr Leshchenko, but in Odessa the singer is not marked in any way.

It’s a pity that my native Odessa can’t mark Petr Leshchenko in any way, although it promises for a long time: to name the street, hang a memorial plaque. - Vera Georgievna Belousova complained shortly before her death.

Photo from the personal archive of Vera Belousova

From the KP dossier

Petr Konstantinovich Leshchenko was born on June 14, 1898 near Odessa in the village of Isaevo. At the age of 11, with his mother, who married a second time, he moved to Chisinau, Bessarabia. He studied at the parochial school and sang in the bishop's choir. After the First World War, Bessarabia went to Romania, and thus the entire Leshchenko family mechanically turned into Romanian subjects. In 1923 he entered the ballet school in Paris. There he met a dancer from Riga, Zinaida Zakit, with whom they began to sing in a duet, and then they got married.

Having moved to Bucharest in 1933, Leshchenko became a co-owner of the Our House restaurant, and in 1935 he opened his own restaurant Leshchenko, in which he performed together with the Trio Leshchenko ensemble (the wife of the singer and his younger sisters- Valya and Katya) and a beginner pop singer Alla Bayanova. In May 1944 he divorced and married an aspiring artist Vera Belousova. In March 1951, Petr Leshchenko was arrested by the Romanian state security agencies. He died in 1954 in a prison hospital in Romania. The first record of Petr Leshchenko in the USSR was released already 34 years after his death, in 1988.