Vladimir Poliakoff

(1887, Moscow, Russia -1985, Paris, France) - singer, guitarist, performer of Russian and gypsy songs and romances. Born into a musical gypsy family in Moscow. He began his singing career in 1916, at the age of 30, as part of a family ensemble - the famous Gypsy choir led by his uncles Егор Поляков and Дмитрий Поляков, who worked in the famous Moscow restaurant "Yar" and invited his young nephew to sing there. Soon after the revolution, in 1920, he emigrated to Constantinople, where he lived for about four years. In February 1923, the Polyakov family left Constantinople, and in the fall of the same year they settled in Paris, re-organizing the family ensemble. In the 20s - early 30s, the Polyakovs' ensemble was widely popular among the Russian emigration in Paris. For many years, the Polyakovs' family Gypsy "clan" performed in famous Parisian restaurants among the emigration. He lived in Paris all his life, where he died in 1985. In the mid-30s, Volodya Polyakov married the gypsy singer Valia Dimitrievitch, the sister of the famous performer Aliosha Dimitrievitch. He was friends in Владимир Высоцкий.