Eduard Sõrmus

Who was Eduard Sõrmus?

Eduard Sõrmus was an early 20th-century Estonian violinist. He was sometimes known as the Red Violinist.

Sõrmus was born in the Luunja borough, Tartu County, Estonia. He herited part of his interest for music from his mother Leena, who had a lovely singing voice and who used to sing during her daily tasks. When Sõrmus was 6 years old, his father gave him his first violin. Sõrmus´s first music teacher was a local tailor named Gustav Puks. Sõrmus went to Hugo Treffner Gymnasium in Tartu from 1888. In gymnasium, he continued playing violin with Johann Kelder, who was a medical student in the University of Tartu. Sõrmus then gave his first concerts in his farmstead and in a neighbouring house. In 1899, Sõrmus went to university and started studying law at the university. After a year in the faculty of law, he changed his studies over to history and languages. In 1902, Sõrmus continued his violin studies at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory under the hand of violin master Leopold Auer. Sõrmus became active in the Russian Revolutionary movement and eventually took part of the 1905 Russian Revolution.