Eduard Sõrmus

Eduard Sõrmus was born in the village of Kõivu, Luunja Parish, Tartu County, in the Governorate of Livonia, the Russian Empire (present-day Estonia).

Many music critics have noted Edouard's violin virtuosity: Sermus studied with Henri Marteau in Berlin in 1910 and with Lucien Capet in Paris in 1913.

Sõrmus spent World War I in Paris and London, after which he returned to Russia for a couple of years and then toured the continent again.

[1] Sõrmus' performances met not only an enthusiastic reception, but also confrontation from bourgeois circles – on 1 May 1923, after the concert, the Magdeburg police broke Sermus' violin (this episode was reflected in the popular culture of that time – a photograph of the famous virtuoso with a broken violin was placed on a postcard).

Sermus' performance was greeted with enthusiastic reception from the audience, including at such prestigious concert venues as Leipzig's St.Thomas Church.

He died at the Botkin Hospital in Moscow in August 1940 aged 62, whilst his wife, Virginia, was visiting her family in Britain.