Leonid Petrovich Derbenyov (Russian: Леони́д Петро́вич Дербенёв; IPA: [lʲeɐˈnʲit pʲɪˈtrovʲɪt͡ɕ dʲɪrbʲɪˈnʲof] ( listen); April 12, 1931 – June 22, 1995) a Russian poet and lyricist widely regarded as one of the stalwarts of the 20th century Soviet and Russian pop music.

Biography

Leonid Derbenyov was born on April 12, 1931 in Moscow. During the German-Soviet War he lived in the village of Ulovo, Vladimir Oblast. His first ever poem appeared in Pionerskaya Pravda; the author being a seventh-grade schoolboy at the time.

Having graduated from the Moscow Law Academy in 1954, Leonid Derbenyov worked as a lawyer for various organizations, writing poetry. Some of his works were published in Komsomolskaya Pravda, Izvestia, Moskovskij Komsomolets and other periodicals.

Since 1959, Derbenyov, a highly prolific writer, created more than two thousand poems, hundreds of which have become song lyrics. Among the composers he worked with were Alexander Flyarkovsky, Arno Babajanian, Aleksandr Zatsepin, Maksim Dunayevsky, Vyacheslav Dobrynin.

Derbenyov's songs were performed by many a Russian pop star, among them Muslim Magomayev ("The Best City on Earth"), Alla Pugacheva ("The Kings Can Do Whatever They Will", "You have to light"), Mikhail Boyarsky ("Everything will be", "Urban flowers", "Fast train"), Lev Leshchenko ("Native Land", "Goodbye"), Masha Rasputina ("Live, the Country", "Let Me In the Himalayas", "I'll Come Back").

Songs with Derbenyov's lyrics were included in numerous soundtracks for films like "There is But a Moment" from the The Sannikov Land or "The Bears' Song" from Kidnapping, Caucasian Style.

In 1978 Derbenyov became an International Song Contest in Sopot' laureate. His songs won the annual "Song of the Year" competition in the years of 1963, 1964, 1965 and 1973.

Leonid Derbenyov died on Thursday, June 22, 1995 in Moscow after a serious illness and was buried at the Vostryakovsky cemetery.

On Friday, November 22, 2002 a memorial sign bearing the name of Leonid Derbenyov was installed at the Square of Stars by the Russia concert hall.

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