Polish composer of Jewish descent, from 1939 residing in the USSR.He gained his first musical experience in Jewish theaters in Warsaw, where his father, Szmul (Samuel) Wajnberg, worked. When he was 12 years old, he became a student of Józef Turczyński, first in the secondary school and then in the higher music school at the Warsaw Conservatory. Like his father, he started working early in revue theaters and dance halls. In 1936, he wrote the music for the film Fredek makes the world happy.In September 1939 he left Warsaw. He managed to get to the USSR and then his name Mieczysław was changed to Moisia.In the USSR, he became a student of the conservatory in Minsk, in the composition class of Vasily Zolotaryov. Ryszard Sielicki studied with him. In June 1940, as a pianist, he performed in Moscow at the Decade of Belarusian Art. On June 23, 1941, the Philharmonic Orchestra in Minsk performed his diploma piece Symphonic Poem. After the German attack on the USSR, he fled to Tashkent, where he was employed as a tutor at the opera. He also composed patriotic works, such as the ballet To fight for the homeland. Then he married Natalia Wowsi-Michoels, the daughter of the well-known actor and director of the Jewish theater Solomon Michoels. With the help of Dmitry Shostakovich, in 1943 they moved to Moscow. In 1946, Weinberg was accused of making too little reference to folklore and writing too pessimistic music. In 1948 he was accused of formalism and banned from performing several of his works. During this time, he began to earn a living by writing music for the radio and for the circus. In February 1953, he was arrested for "Jewish bourgeois nationalism." He was released in April, again with the help of Shostakovich.In the following years, Wajnberg composed a lot of film music. The most famous was the war film The Cranes Are Flying, which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1958.From then on, Weinberg spent almost all his life in Moscow. Only once, in 1966, he came to the "Warsaw Autumn". He composed a lot, sometimes publicly performed works by Shostakovich as a pianist. He continued to write for films, including cartoons, such as the most popular animated film with his music Miś Pooh, directed by Fiodor Chitruk. In 1971 he was awarded the title of "Distinguished Artist of the RSFSR", in 1980 "People's Artist of the RSFSR", and in 1990 he was awarded the USSR State Prize. In the mid-1980s, Wajnberg returned to the name Mieczysław. On the occasion of his 75th birthday in 1994, he received the "Meritorious for Polish Culture" award. Shortly before his death, he was baptized in the Orthodox Church.Buried at the Domodedovo cemetery in Moscow
