Viktor Berkovsky


Viktor Semyonovich Berkovsky was a Soviet and Ukrainian Jewish bard.

Early years and education

Berkovsky was born on July 13, 1932 in Zaporizhia, Ukrainian SSR to a Jewish family. During the Great Patriotic War, he was evacuated with his family to Novokuznetsk, where his mother, Etel Viktorovna Gerts, was a prominent cardiologist and head of the cardiology department in a hospital for wounded soldiers. His father, Samuil Mikhaylovich Berkovsky, was drafted and mobilized on the first day of the war, serving in the infantry.
After graduating from high school in 1950, Berkovsky left for Moscow, where he received a degree from Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys. In 1955, Berkovsky came back to Zaporizhia to work in the "Dneprostal" factory. In order to better learn his profession, Berkovsky voluntarily chose to work as a factory worker, and by 1962 he became head of the factory's technological department.
In 1962, Berkovsky returned to Moscow for PhD studies at the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys. He received a PhD degree in 1967, and stayed on at the institute first as an instructor, and later as associate professor.

Music career

Practically all his life Berkovsky composed music. He wrote the music for about 200 songs. Many of these became very popular in the Soviet Union: "Grenada", "Песня шагом, шагом", "Ну что с того, что я там был", "Сороковые роковые", "Лошади в океане", "Вспомните, ребята!", "Песенка про собачку Тябу", "Альма-матер", "Контрабандисты", "На далекой Амазонке", "Черешневый кларнет", "Под музыку Вивальди", "Снегопад", and many others.
Viktor Berkovsky worked closely with Sergey Nikitin on composing music for the theater and movies, such as "Мэри Поппинс", "Коньки", "Морские ворота", "Большая докторская сказка", "Али-Баба и 40 песен персидского базара", and songs for the children's show "Будильник".

Personal life

Berkovsky died on July 23, 2005 in Moscow.