Yuri Levitan
Encyclopedia
Yuri Borisovich Levitan (Russian Юрий Борисович Левитан ), (2 October 1914, Vladimir
Vladimir
Vladimir is a city and the administrative center of Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located on the Klyazma River, to the east of Moscow along the M7 motorway. Population:...

 - 4 August 1983) was a Soviet radio announcer famous for his wartime reports of the battles, which usually began with "Attention, Moscow is speaking." His voice announced battlefield victories, air raid warnings, and the surrender of Germany to the Soviets on May 9, 1945. He also announced the first public acknowledgment of Stalin's death, and the first manned space flight. His voice was instantly recognizable by the Soviet public.

Levitan was born in Vladimir
Vladimir
Vladimir is a city and the administrative center of Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located on the Klyazma River, to the east of Moscow along the M7 motorway. Population:...

, his father Boris Levitan was a tailor, and his mother Maria was a housewife.

At the onset of the Second World War in Russia, Levitan was evacuated to Sverdlovsk in the autumn of 1941, because Muscovite radio stations were taken down in order to avoid German bombardment. At the time, he lived in a secret location, due to his importance as the nation's foremost radio personality. In March 1943,he was secretly transported to Kuibyshev
Samara, Russia
Samara , is the sixth largest city in Russia. It is situated in the southeastern part of European Russia at the confluence of the Volga and Samara Rivers. Samara is the administrative center of Samara Oblast. Population: . The metropolitan area of Samara-Tolyatti-Syzran within Samara Oblast...

, where the Soviet radio committee met.

After the war, he reported on events on Red Square
Red Square
Red Square is a city square in Moscow, Russia. The square separates the Kremlin, the former royal citadel and currently the official residence of the President of Russia, from a historic merchant quarter known as Kitai-gorod...

, and state proclamations. Between 1978—1983, he announced the annual "Minute of Silence
Minute of Silence
Minute of Silence was a joint radio and TV program in the Soviet Union broadcast on at 6:00 pm on May 9, the day of the victory of the Soviet Union in the second world war. It was first broadcast on Soviet Central Television in 1965, 20 years after the Allied victory over Nazi Germany...

" to commemorate V-E Day in Russia. In 1980, he was awarded the People's Artist of the USSR
People's Artist of the USSR
People's Artist of the USSR, also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to citizens of the Soviet Union.- Nomenclature and significance :...

. He is buried in the famed Novodevichy Cemetery
Novodevichy Cemetery
Novodevichy Cemetery is the most famous cemetery in Moscow, Russia. It is next to the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist site. It should not be confused with the Novodevichy Cemetery in Saint Petersburg....

in Moscow.
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