Biography

Lev Konstantinovich Knipper was born on December 3, 1898, in Tbilisi, Russia. He grew up in a bilingual family and spoke perfect Russian and German. His German father, named Konstantin Knipper, worked as a Railroad Engineer. Lev Knipper was the nephew of actress Olga Knipper-Chekhova, the wife of Anton Chekhov, and a junior brother of Olga Tschechowa, the wife of Michael Chekhov. Lev Knipper studied piano from childhood and received an excellent private education. He also played good tennis and was an avid mountain-climber.

Lev Knipper was an officer in the White Army of Baron Vrangel, fighting against the Bolshevik communists during the Russian Civil War in the Ukraine and in the Crimea. He briefly emigrated and lived in Germany, but after some time he was rehabilitated by the Soviet secret service and returned to the Soviet Russia. There he worked for the secret service under Lavrenti Beria, being attached to the propaganda department of the Red Army. He completed his music education at the Moscow Gnesin Institute, where his teachers were Mikhail Gnesin and Reinhold Glière. He composed patriotic songs and contributed music scores for several Soviet films. He also collaborated with Stanislavsky and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko at the Moscow Art Theatre.

In 1934 Lev Knipper wrote the famous song 'Polyushko Pole' on the commission from the Red Army. The song was officially dedicated to the Red Army Commander Field Marshall Kliment Voroshilov. The lyrics to the song were written by Viktor Gusev. 'Polyushko Pole' became one of the official Red Army marches and also was a popular hit in the repertoire of the Red Army Choir. At that time he was married to a Secret Service agent named Mary (or Margaret) who reported directly to the office of Lavrenti Beria in Kremlin.

Prior to the Second World War Lev Knipper was reportedly on a secret mission in Germany, with the task of assassinating Adolf Hitler. There he was associated with his sister Olga Tschechowa, who was a famous film-star and a close personal friend of Adolf Hitler. Lev Knipper received instructions from Moscow to use one of Olga's visits with Hitler for a suicide attack on the Nazi Fuhrer. Olga Tschechowa was kept oblivious to the plan, which was aborted by an order from Joseph Stalin, who became paranoid about the possibility of Germany's alliance with Britain, if Hitler were killed.

Later Lev Knipper spent some time at a German war prisoner's camp, where he survived due to his perfect German. At the end of the war Lev Knipper accompanied his famous sister in Moscow to take part in the Celebration of the Soviet Victory in May of 1945. They attended the Moscow Art Theatre performance of 'The Cherry Orchard', a play by Anton Chekhov starring Olga Knipper-Chekhova, the aunt of Olga Tschechowa and Lev Knipper. For a few years Lev Knipper continued his work in Germany for the KGB identifying anti-Communist Russian immigrants.

Back in Moscow, Lev Knipper had immunity from the attacks on intellectuals, which were led by Andrei Zhdanov under Joseph Stalin. While Sergei Prokofiev and other prominent Russian composers were censored, Lev Knipper enjoyed a career as a composer and ethnomusicologist. He traveled to Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan, where he researched local ethnic traditions and folk music. By the end of his musical career he composed 20 symphonies and 5 operas, including 'The Little Prince'.

Lev Knipper was decorated and received numerous awards from the Soviet government. He was honored with the title of the People's Artist of the Russian Federation. He died on July 30, 1974, in Moscow.