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Wiera Gran | |
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![]() Wiera Gran | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Weronika Grynberg |
Also known as | Wiera Gran, Vera Gran, Viera Green, Sylvia Green, Mariol |
Born | 20 April 1916 Russia |
Died | 19 November 2007 Paris, France | (aged 91)
Genres | tango |
Occupation(s) | singer |
Instrument | vocals |
Years active | 1934–2007 |
Wiera Gran, real name Dwojra Grynberg (20 April 1916 – 19 November 2007) was a Polish singer and actress of Jewish ancestry.
Wiera Gran had a low alto voice even in early 1934, when at the age of 17 when—using the pseudonym Sylvia Green—she made her first recording, the tango Grzech.[1] She sang in the Cafe Paradis in Warsaw in the early 1930s.[2] While most of her recordings are in the Polish language, she sang in Yiddish in the movie On a heym (Without a home) with Shimon Dzigan and Israel Shumacher. She escaped from the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II and was hiding in Warsaw-Babice (Boernerowo). In 1950, she moved to France. She was associated with Maurice Chevalier's stage theater, Alhambra. She performed in Paris in the charity concert with Charles Aznavour. The first song which made her popular was composed in 1937 by Adolf Kurc (later known as Eddy Courts) to Gran's lyrics. She traveled to Poland in 1965. Some of her best known songs include "List", "Wir tańca nas porwał", "Gdy odejdziesz", "Trzy listy", "Fernando", "Cicha jest noc", "Varsovie de mon enfance", "Ma Patrie" and "Mazowiecki wiatr". [citation needed]