Mstislav Rostropovich
Rostropovich, Mstislav Leopol’dovich
Born Mar. 27, 1927, in Baku. Cellist. People’s Artist of the USSR (1966).
Rostropovich graduated in 1946 from the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied cello under S. M. Kozolupov. He was a participant in several all-Union and international competitions of performing musicians. In 1978, Rostropovich and his wife, G. P. Vishnevskaia, were deprived of Soviet citizenship for undermining the prestige of the USSR. [22–951–4; updated]