Jakub Kagan (7 February 1896 – 1942) was a popular

Polish-Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...

composer, pianist, jazz musician and

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

. In the early 1920s, he formed the Kagan's Jazz Band in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, performing in operettas, cabarets, and hotels. Since 1922 Kagan was a feature artist at the Kabaret Mirage and at the Teatr Nowości. In 1926 he signed a contract with the luxury Hotel Bristol in Warsaw. His band performed world-renowned standards as well as his own compositions widely popular across the country. He died in Warsaw during the Holocaust in occupied Poland.

Life

Kagan was one of four sons of Morduch (Mordechai) and Sara

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Kantor. He was born in Nowogródek in the

Minsk Governorate Minsk Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Minsk. It was created from the land acquired in the partitions of Poland and existed from 1793 until 1921. Its territory covered th ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(now Navahrudak in

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

). His eldest brother Mieczysław (born in 1887) changed his name to Kochanowski and became composer of dance music before the First World War. Jakub followed in his brother's footsteps. He graduated from the Warsaw Institute of Music before 1918 and became member of the Polish Composers Union. 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 ...

defending

during the Battle of Radzymin. He began composing at that particular time. His first widely popular tango was ''"Złota pantera"'' (The Gold Panther) to words by

Andrzej Włast Andrzej Włast (aka Gustaw Baumritter) (17 March 1885 – 1942 or 1943) was a Polish Jewish songwriter. He wrote the lyrics for the 1929 hit song "Tango Milonga" / "Oh, Donna Clara". He died in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. Biography ...

(1895–1942), premiered in 1929 in Żegiestów. The song opened all the doors for his subsequent Warsaw career, followed by international tours and concerts in Germany, Austria, and Hungary. His greatest hits were performed by such headliners as

Hanka Ordonówna Hanka Ordonówna or Ordonka (born Maria Anna Pietruszyńska; 4 August 1902 in Warsaw – 8 September 1950 in Beirut) was a Polish singer, dancer and actress. Life She began her career at the age of 16 in a Warsaw cabaret named Sfinks and then ...

, Adam Aston, and Stanisław Grzesiuk. After the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

by Nazi Germany he was deported to the

Warsaw Ghetto The Warsaw Ghetto (, officially , ; ) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the Nazi Germany, German authorities within the new General Government territory of Occupat ...

where he played piano at the Splendid Café and the Melody Palace Theatre to survive. He was killed in 1942 possibly during the murderous '' Grossaktion Warsaw''. His other brother, Feliks, who had changed his name to Kochański, also perished during the war.Naliwajek-Mazurek 2010 (ibidem), Note: ''see'' Tomasz Lerski, ''Syrena Record. Pierwsza polska wytwórnia fonograficzna 1904–1939'', Editions ”Karin”, New York – Warsaw 2004: 661–662. Only the youngest of the Kagan brothers, Alexander (born in 1906), survived

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

as a soldier of the Polish Army in France (1939–40), interned in Switzerland.

Popular songs

References

Jakub Kagan, Biblioteka Piosenki, Nota biograficzna

Bibliography

* Stanisław Łoza (ed.), "Czy wiesz kto to jest?", Wydawnictwo Głównej Księgarni Wojskowej Warszawa 1938, p. 312.

External links

Scores by Jakub Kagan
in digital library

Polona Polona is a Polish digital library, which provides digitized books, magazines, graphics, maps, music, fliers and manuscripts from collections of the National Library of Poland and co-operating institutions. It began its operation in 2006. Colle ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kagan, Jakub 1896 births 1942 deaths People from Novogrudok People from Novogrudsky Uyezd Belarusian Jews Polish composers Jewish composers Polish jazz pianists 20th-century Polish composers 20th-century pianists Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War Polish military personnel Polish civilians killed in World War II People who died in the Warsaw Ghetto