ELMAN, MISCHA (1891— ), violinist, was born at Stal noje, Russia, on Jan. 20, 1891, received his first musical teaching from his father, a schoolmaster, but subsequently studied under Fidelmann at Odessa, and later under Auer at St. Petersburg (Leningrad), where as a Jew he was enabled to reside only by virtue of a special dispensation granted by the Tsar. Recognition of his extraordinary talents was immediate, not only in Russia, but elsewhere throughout Europe. He paid his first visit to Lon don in 1905 and to the United States in 1908. During the World War he was relieved of the obligation of military service to which as a Russian subject he would otherwise have been liable. Dur ing recent years he has practised his art chiefly in America, where he has made many tours, and after his marriage in San Francisco in 1925 he became a permanent resident of New York.
His first name is a diminutive of Michael.