George Gershwin

George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwins compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known. Among his bestknown works are the orchestral compositions Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris as well as the opera Porgy and Bess .

Gershwin was born of Russian and Ukrainian Jewish descent. His grandfather, Jakov Gershowitz, had served foryears as a mechanic for the Imperial Russian Army to earn the right of free travel and residence as a Jew. He retired near Saint Petersburg. His teenage son, Moishe Gershowitz, worked as a leather cutter for womens shoes. Moishe met and fell in love with Roza Bruskina, the teenage daughter of a furrier, born in Vilnius. Bruskina moved with her family to New York due to fears of an increasing antiJewish sentiment in Russia once resettled, she Americanized her first name to Rose. Moishe, faced with compulsory military service in Russia, followed Rose as soon as he had the means to. Upon arrival in New York, Moishe Gershowitz used the first name Morris. Moishe settled at first with a maternal uncle in Brooklyn a tailor named Greenstein, where he worked as a foreman in a womens shoe factory. When Morris and Rose married on July 21, 1895, they wereand 19, respectively. At som

Source: Wikipedia