GUZIKOV, MICHAEL JOSEPH:

By: Herman Rosenthal, J. G. Lipman

Russian musician; born at Shklov 1806; died at Brussels Oct. 21, 1837. He was descended from a family of talented musicians, and became while still a youth a skilful performer on many instruments. Accompanied by his father and other members of the family, he made concert tours in Russia, played before the emperor Nicholas and the empress in 1828, and, after successful concerts in Moscow and Kiev, visited Odessa, where he met Lamartine and was advised by him to make a tour of Europe. He resided in Vienna for five months, where he was distinguished by the emperor and Prince Metternich, and befriended by artists and musicians. Guzikov next visited Prague, Dresden, and Berlin, and was well received at the court of Berlin. From Berlin he went to Paris, and thence to Brussels. Here he fell a victim to nervous prostration, of which he died.

Guzikov was the inventor of the straw violin, on which he played with such masterly skill as to create great enthusiasm wherever he went. There are many talented musicians among the Guzikov family in Russia.

H. R. J. G. L.