Elias Breeskin (Russian: Элиас Бреескин; Ukrainian: Еліас Бреескін; October 25, 1895 – May 9, 1969) was a violinist, composer and conductor.

Elias' father was a quiet, dear man who had learned, appropriately, not to cross his indomitable wife, who was approximately 200 pounds in weight, and quite muscular.

In 1903, shortly after Elias’ seventh birthday, his mother turned him over to a professional violinist in the local Conservatory in Cracow, Poland, for lessons.

During the next two years, he toured through Ukraine and western Russia, where he was also tutored by Leopold Auer, personal musician to the Czar.

A part of this prize was a concert at Carnegie Hall, which was extremely well received; the reviewers in the next day’s newspapers remarked on the warmth and purity of his tone, his technical abilities, and the sincerity and refinement of his playing.

A wealthy patron, Edward Schafer, a member of the New York Stock Exchange, gave Elias a Rougemont Stradivarius with a Tourte bow as a gift.

Schafer had originally purchased the violin from the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, of 113 West Fortieth Street, for $16,000 together with the bow for $850.

Together they parented three daughters, Jean Dorothy.and Gloria Around the time of this marriage, Elias became pathologically addicted to gambling.

[7] When Elias returned in disgrace to New York, he composed Cosmopolis, a descriptive piece which somewhat resembles Ottorino Respighi’s The Fountains of Rome.

At this time, Elias found himself in the intensive care unit of a hospital, having suffered a ruptured appendix.

During this time, there were so many musicians who were out of work that Elias formed what later became the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra, and began to write music for movies.

The musicians of the orchestra, knowing that Elias had ripped them off, still prepared a scroll for him, testifying to his musicianship, and for giving them a step forward in their careers.

In 1941, Anna, Gene, and John Breeskin joined Elias in Mexico City, where he had become musical director for XEW, the most important radio station in the country.

John Breeskin also describes living in a mansion with several servants, including a chauffeur, a gardener, a bodyguard, a cook and two young maids.

Elias would come home from work, take off his suit jacket, and reveal a tiny Capuchin monkey tucked into his armpit.