Mischa Elman and Grisha Goluboff - a musical interlude.

Sometimes, when researching, I find myself going off at a tangent and following some obscure 'twiglet' that I have come across on Google.There are some amazing websites on the internet, if only one had the time to explore them. One such site is called, 'Discovering Chaplin' and is all about Charlie Chaplin, the famous film star. There is a photograph of Charlie Chaplin with Feodor Chaliapin and his daughter, in Biarritz. The two men, whilst staying in the Hotel Miramar, in Biarritz, were invited to a party at the home of Mischa Elman, the virtuoso violinist, who owned 'an estate in St Jean de Luz'. This was in 1931. At this party they joined in the entertainment, reversing their normal roles. Charlie sang some old Russian songs and Chaliapin did a comedy routine!
Mischa Elman was born in Russia in 1891 and he died in 1967.He became a US citizen in 1923 but made many of his recordings in Paris. During the summer months he taught the violin in his St Jean de Luz estate, on the bay. Suzuki, the Japanese man who started the method named after him, of teaching very young children to play the violin, is said to have done so after hearing recordings of Elman playing the violin.
There is a photograph of Mischa Elman on another website which concerns historical clothing (histclo.com).He is sitting on board the ship SS Bremen, going from New York to Europe, with his arm round a young boy called Grisha Goluboff. I have found them returning to New York, again on the SS Bremen, in 1934. Having been a child prodigy himself, Mischa Elman took a great interest in Grisha Goluboff.
Grisha was the son of another Russian emigre who changed his name to Holcombe. He had been a wealthy jeweller in Russia but escaped, after being shot in the arm. He managed to reach America where he married and had a family. In the 1930 census he is a Watchmaker. The story goes that his three year old son picked up his Father's violin one day and showed such promise that his Father paid for him to have lessons. After a couple of years he was good enough to perform with the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra.