Gelena Martselievna Velikanova was a Soviet traditional pop performer, who popular in the 1950s and 1960s and best remembered for her 1959 hit "Landyshi".
11 Facts About Gelena Velikanova
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Gelena Velikanova was honoured with the People's Artist of Russia title in 1992.
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Gelena Velikanova died in 1998, two hours before her farewell concert in Moscow.
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Gelena Velikanova was born in Moscow; both her parents came from Poland, her father Marceli Welikanis, was a half-Lithuanian.
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Gelena Velikanova graduated from the secondary school in 1941 but had to abandon her plans of joining the musical college, due to the outbreak of World War II broke and her family were subsequently evacuated to Tomsk.
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In 1944 Gelena Velikanova returned to Moscow, enrolled into the Glazunov Musical college.
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In 1969 Gelena Velikanova was honoured with the title Meritorious Artist of RSFSR, but soon lost the crystal-clear timbre of her high-pitched voice, due to incompetent medical treatment for her vocal chords.
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In mid-1990s Gelena Velikanova enjoyed the renewed interest in her musical legacy.
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On 16 April 1998, the Gelena Velikanova Star was set at the Rossiya concert hall square.
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Gelena Velikanova died in her home two hours before the show.
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Gelena Velikanova was buried at the Vagankovskoye Cemetery, in Moscow.