Anna Klas (born Anna Gurevitš; 23 January 1912 – 20 April 1999) was an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n pianist and pedagogue. Anna Klas was born in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

into a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family. Since on the second half of 1930s, she started her solo career. Famous was her duo with

Bruno Lukk Bruno Lukk (30 June 1909 Tšussovaja village, Perm Governorate – 31 May 1991 Tallinn) was an Estonian pianist and pedagogue. He was one of the most notable piano pedagogue in Estonia. In 1913 his family moved to Estonia. In 1928 he graduated fr ...

. This collaboration started in 1940s and lasted over 40 years. She was also a pedagogue. Since 1940 she taught at the Tallinn Conservatory. Students included: Toivo Peäske, Laine Mets, Virve Lippus, Ada Kuuseoks, Vilma Mallene, Viiva Väinmaa, Valdur Roots, Helju Agur, Aime Karm and others. From 1944 until 1959, she taught at the Tallinn State Music School (an associate professor since 1946). From 1966 until 1979, she was a lecturer at the

Riga Conservatory Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Bal ...

in Latvia. In 1938, she married Eduard Klas. Their son was conductor Eri Klas. In 1941, after the occupation of Estonia by German troops, Eduard Klas was arrested and executed due to his Jewish origins. Anna Klas escaped the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

by being in the

Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...

from 1941 until 1943, as part of the National Art Ensembles of the Estonian SSR, and staying in

Yaroslavl Yaroslavl ( rus, Ярослáвль, p=jɪrɐˈsɫavlʲ) is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historic part of the city is a World Heritage Site, and is located at the confluence ...

from 1943 until 1944.

Acknowledgements

*Meritorious Artist of the Estonian SSR (1946) *Soviet Estonia Award (1947)

References

External links

In memoriam Anna Klas, radio program on 5 May 1999 {{DEFAULTSORT:Klas, Anna 1912 births 1999 deaths Estonian pianists Estonian classical pianists Estonian Jews 20th-century Estonian women musicians Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre alumni Academic staff of Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music Musicians from Riga