About Jascha Heifetz
Jascha Heifetz (; February 2 [O.S. January 20] 1901 – December 10, 1987) was a Russian-American violinist, widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time. Born in Vilna, he was soon recognized as a child prodigy and was trained in the Russian violin school in Saint Petersburg. Accompanying his parents to escape the violence of the Russian Revolution, he moved to the United States as a teenager, where his Carnegie Hall debut was rapturously received. Fritz Kreisler, another leading violinist of the twentieth century, said after hearing Heifetz's debut, "We might as well take our fiddles and break them across our knees." By the age of 18, Heifetz was the highest-paid violinist in the world. He had a long and successful concert career, including wartime service with the United Service Organizations (USO). After an injury to his right (bowing) arm in 1972, he switched his focus to teaching. == Early life == Joseph (Iosif) Ruvimovich Heifetz was born into a Jewish family in Vilna in the Russian Empire (present-day Vilnius, Lithuania). According to his birth register, he was born on February 2 [O.S. January 20] 1901, although the year has been disputed. A booklet accompanying the 46th volume of The Heifetz Collection (1994) says he was born in 1900, explaining that "Heifetz's mother advanced his birth date one year when no one was looking", though no other reliable sources confirm that his mother changed her son's age. According to family legend, his paternal grandfather, Ilya Heifetz, was born around 1830 and worked as a teacher (melamed) at a Jewish boys' school (cheder).
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.