About Henryk Szeryng
Henryk Bolesław Szeryng (usually pronounced HEN-r-ik SHEH-r-in-g) (22 September 1918 – 3 March 1988) was a Polish-Mexican violinist. == Early years == He was born in Warsaw, Poland on 22 September 1918 into a wealthy Jewish family. The surname "Szeryng" is a Polish transliteration of his Yiddish surname, which nowadays would be spelled "Shering" in the modern Yiddish-to-English transliteration. Szeryng began taking piano and harmony lessons from his mother at the age of five, and switched to the violin at the age of seven, studying with Maurice Fraenkel. After studying with Carl Flesch in Berlin (1929–1932), he went on to the Conservatoire de Paris, where he furthered his studies with Jacques Thibaud, graduating with a premier prix in 1937. == Career == He made his solo debut on 6 January 1933 playing the Brahms Violin Concerto with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra under Romanian conductor George Georgescu. From 1933 to 1939 he studied composition in Paris with Nadia Boulanger. When World War II broke out, Władysław Sikorski, the premier of the Polish government in exile, asked Szeryng, who was fluent in seven languages, to serve as his liaison officer and interpreter. Szeryng took these positions and discontinued his studies, although he continued to perform on the violin, giving over 300 concerts for Allied troops all over the world. When he accompanied Sikorski on a mission to Mexico in 1941 seeking a home for 4,000 Polish refugees, the positive reception moved Szeryng so deeply that he decided to become a Mexican naturalized citizen, and did so in 1946.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.