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Lev Lebedinsky

1904 – 1992

Russian musicologist

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About Lev Lebedinsky

Lived 1904 – 1992 (aged 88). Lev Lebedinsky was a Russian composer and musicologist.

Lev Lebedinsky (1904–1992) was a Soviet musicologist.

He is perhaps most well known today as a friend and oft-quoted confidant of composer Dmitry Shostakovich. His part in the debate over Shostakovich's memoirs and musical intentions created a certain amount of conflict with the late composer's family after his death in 1975.

He is quoted, perhaps most controversially, claiming that around the time of writing his dour and autobiographical Eighth Quartet, Shostakovich was suicidal — that Lebedinsky removed a bottle of sleeping pills from the composer's pocket and gave them to Shostakovich's son, Maxim. Maxim denies this claim.

Lebedinsky's testimony is questioned by some because of his previously-held positions - as an agent for the Bolshevik secret police, Felix Dzerzhinsky’s notorious Cheka, and as a major leader of the RAPM (Russian Association of Proletarian Musicians) which officially opposed Shostakovich and other Soviet composers in the 1920s.

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Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Education
Moscow Conservatory
Employers
N.N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Anthropology and Ethnography RAS

People in Lev Lebedinsky's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Lev Lebedinsky's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Lev Lebedinsky?

Russian musicologist

When was Lev Lebedinsky born?

Lev Lebedinsky was born on 23 October 1904 in Miass.

When did Lev Lebedinsky die?

Lev Lebedinsky died on 21 November 1992 in Moscow.

What was Lev Lebedinsky's occupation?

Lev Lebedinsky was a composer and musicologist.

What nationality was Lev Lebedinsky?

Lev Lebedinsky was Russian.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Lev Lebedinsky

· Wikidata: Q6534744

· DBpedia: Lev Lebedinsky

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Lev Lebedinsky. https://biography.guide/lev-lebedinsky/

MLA: "Lev Lebedinsky." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/lev-lebedinsky/.

Chicago: "Lev Lebedinsky." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/lev-lebedinsky/.

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