Adam Aston (born Adolf Loewinsohn, 17 September 1902, Warsaw, Poland: died 10 January 1993 in London, England) was a Polish singer, actor, and pianist of Jewish origin. He sang in

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

and

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

and was one of the most popular artists in interwar Poland. He often worked with

Henryk Wars Henry Vars (born Henryk Warszawski; December 29, 1902 September 1, 1977) was a Polish-American composer, arranger and conductor whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. He is regarded as the most important musical theatre, p ...

. He also went under the names Adam Wiński, Adam Stanisław Lewinson, recorded also under names J. Kierski, Adam Winski and Ben-Lewi. Orient recording company notes by historian :pl:Jerzy Płaczkiewicz He used the name Ben-Lewi when recording in Hebrew. He debuted at the

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...

theater (music hall, cabaret) ''Morskie Oko'' in Warsaw. He made his first record in 1927; in 1930 he began to work with Henryk Wars at the ''Morskie Oko'' cabaret and adopted his stage name of Adam Aston.Biblioteka Polskiej Piosenki He recorded

gramophone record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The g ...

s for

Syrena Rekord Syrena Record was a Polish record company "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publi ...

, Odeon, Parlophon, Columbia, and Lonora, singing as many as 900 songs between 1930 and 1939. He also appeared in two musical comedy films: '' Dwie Joasie'' and '' Manewry miłosne'' in 1935. He also sang the Polish version of ''

Cheek to Cheek "Cheek to Cheek" is a song written by Irving Berlin in 1934–35, specifically for Fred Astaire, the star of his new musical, ''Top Hat'', co-starring Ginger Rogers.

'' (Polish title: ''W siódmym niebie'' - "In Seventh Heaven"). In 1920, he fought in the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...

. After the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he was evacuated to the east and performed in

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

, which was then under Soviet occupation. In late 1941, he joined the

Polish II Corps The 2nd Polish Corps (), 1943–1947, was a major tactical and operational unit of the Polish Armed Forces in the West during World War II. It was commanded by Lieutenant General Władysław Anders and fought with distinction in the Italian Ca ...

of General Anders as part of the ''Polska Parada'' cabaret. In 1944, he fought at the

Battle of Monte Cassino The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome, was a series of four military assaults by the Allies of World War II, Allies against Nazi Germany, German forces in Kingdom of Italy, Italy during the Italian Campaign (World War ...

in Italy. After the war he lived in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and in 1960 moved to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

References

External links

*
notes on Aston from GWIAZDOZBIÓR POLSKIEJ PIOSENKI
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aston, Adam 1902 births 1993 deaths Jewish cabaret performers Polish cabaret performers 20th-century Polish Jews Polish expatriates in South Africa Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War 20th-century Polish comedians Polish emigrants to the United Kingdom