Exiled Czech pianist Firkusny's ashes reburied in homeland

0 Comments | AFP, September, 2007

BRNO, Czech Republic (AFP) — The ashes of famed Czech pianist Rudolf Firkusny, who died in the United States after fleeing his homeland, were officially reburied Monday near his birthplace.

"The children have fulfilled the wishes of relatives 13 years after the death of the musician," a spokesman for the Brno municipality told AFP after an urn containing the ashes was buried at the main cemetry in the city of Brno.

Firkusny, hailed as one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century, studied with the composers Leos Janacek and Josef Suk. He began performing across Europe in the 1920s and made his debuts in London in 1933 and New York in 1938.

He escaped the Nazis, settled in New York and became a US citizen and taught music at the Juilliard School in New...