Voting Station

Sol Hurok

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Promoter

The Resume

    (April 9, 1888-March 5, 1974)
    Born in Pogar, Russia
    Birth name was Solomon Izrailevich Gurkov
    Impresario and manager
    Inaugurated the 'Music for the Masses' concert series (1913)
    Arranged tours of America by the Ballet Russe, Sadler Wells Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet and Kirov Ballet
    Represented Marian Anderson, Van Cliburn, Isidora Duncan, Anna Pavlova, Michel Fokine, Feodor Chaliapin, Isaac Stern, Andres Segovia, Arthur Rubinstein and Mstislav Rostropovich

Why he might be annoying:

    He used the money his parents gave him to attend trade school to emigrate to the US with his girlfriend.
    He went bankrupt (1925).
    Martha Graham and Agnes de Mille criticized him for favoring foreign stars in his dance productions.
    A biographer described him as having 'a star's temperment without the talent.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    He persuaded the Department of the Interior to allow Marian Anderson to perform an Easter Sunday open-air concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial (April 9, 1939).
    He was able to arrange an American tour by the Bolshoi Ballet at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962).
    The Jewish Defense League, which opposed detente with the USSR, bombed his office, killing a secretary and hospitalizing him with smoke inhalation (1972).
    He said his proudest achievement was 'Bringing ballet to America and the American public to ballet.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 77.78% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 9 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 19 Votes: 47.37% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying