Rimma Kazakova

Rimma Kazakova was a popular Russian poet-songwriter best known for her lyrics to such songs as 'You Love Me', 'Nenaglyadny moy', 'Wedding Music' and 'Madonna' among other hits. She was born Rimma Fedorovna Kazakova on January 27, 1932, in Sebastopol, Russia, Soviet Union (now Sebastopol, Ukraine). Her father, Fedor Lazarevich, was a Red Army officer, her mother was a homemaker. Young Kazakova was fond of classic literature and poetry. During her formative years she lived and studied in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg, Russia), graduating from Leningrad HS in 1949. From 1950 to 1955 she studied history and literature at Leningrad State University, graduating in 1955, majoring in History. That same year she had the first publication of her poem in the Soviet Union. From 1956 to 1961 Kazakova lived in Khabarovsk in the Far east of Russia. There in 1958 she published her first collection of poetry titled "We'll Meet in the East." In 1959 she joined the Writers Union. From 1961 to 1964 she attended the Higher Courses of Literature at the Union of Writers in Moscow. Since the 1960s Rimma Kazakova was part of the Moscow cultural milieu known as the 60s generation. She enjoyed popularity in the Soviet Union and Russia as the author of many books of poetry based on traditions of Russian folklore, urban romance and other lyrical trends of the 20th century. Kazakova wrote lyrics to many popular songs by composer Igor Krutoy, such as 'Madonna', 'Wedding Music', 'You Love Me' and other hits performed by singer Alexander Serov. Rimma Kazakova survived numerous attacks by the Soviet officialdom; she was censored and banned form traveling outside of the Soviet Union. During the 1980s she was nominated for Soviet State Prize, but she never received the prize. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kazakova was elected First Secretary of the Writers' Union of Russia, alongside Bella Akhmadulina and Andrei Voznesensky. She died on May 19, 2008, of natural causes while she was undergoing treatment at the prestigious "Perkhushkovo" sanatorium near Moscow, Russia.