Sol Hurok — impresario with roots in the Russian Empire
Sol Hurok (born Solomon Izrailevich Gurak) was a Russian-born American impresario who became the most important concert manager in American history. He brought Anna Pavlova, Marian Anderson, Arthur Rubinstein, the Bolshoi Ballet, and hundreds of other artists to American audiences over five decades.
Tracing the roots — Pogar
Born in Pogar (Russian Empire) in 1888 and arriving in New York at 16 speaking no English, Hurok built his career presenting the greatest performers of the 20th century. His decision to present Soviet artists to American audiences during the Cold War — including the Bolshoi Ballet's first American tour in 1959 — was a cultural diplomacy of historic significance.
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Pogar. At the time, this region lay within the Russian Empire, which spanned from Poland to the Pacific.