Boris Fomin
| Boris Ivanovich Fomin | |
|---|---|
Fomin in mid-1920s
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| Born |
Борис Иванович Фомин April 12, 1900 Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire |
| Died | October 25, 1948 (aged 48) Moscow, USSR |
| Occupation | musician, composer |
| Years active | 1922-1946 |
Boris Ivanovich Fomin (Борис Иванович Фомин, 12 April 1900, Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, - 25 October 1948, Moscow, USSR) was a Soviet musician and composer who specialized in the Russian romance.
Several of Fomin's songs became popular in 1920s, most notably "Dorogoi dlinnoyu" (Russian: Дорогой длинною, By Endless Road), commonly known for its English version "Those Were the Days", made world-famous in 1968 by Mary Hopkin and credited to Eugene Raskin who in 1962 wrote the English lyrics for the tune and claimed the song for his own. It was composed by Boris Fomin in 1924, first interpreted and recorded by Tamara Tsereteli (1925) and Alexander Vertinsky (1926); it was the latter who popularized it abroad.
Boris Ivanovich Fomin was born in Saint Petersburg. His father Ivan Yakovlevich (1869-1935) was a high-ranking army official serving at the State Military control office, who counted Mikhail Lomonosov among his distant relatives. His mother Yevgenia Ioannovna Pekar (1872-1954), a daughter of Alexander II's lady-in-waiting, was of Austrian origins; she married (but soon divorced) an Italian man, and it was the latter's musical talents that were considered to be inherited by his grandson who by the age of four played well the accordion even if having obvious difficulties holding it. Boris had three sisters, Valentina (a year older), Lydia and Olga, 8 and 12 years younger, respectively.
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