2-481-337 - © Fine Art Images/Heritage Images

Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975), singer Maria Maksakova (1902-1974) and writer Aleksey Tolstoy, 1943. Shostakovich (1906-1975) was one of the foremost Russian composers of the 20th century. Maksakova was a mezzo-soprano opera singer and Tolstoy (1883-1945) was a writer whose works spanned several genres and who also produced propaganda material for Stalin's regime. Found in the collection of the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, Moscow.