Andrij Dobriansky

Andrij Vsevolod Dobriansky (Ukrainian: Андрій Всеволод Добрянський; September 2, 1930 – February 1, 2012) was a principal artist with the Metropolitan Opera for 30 years where he sang over 60 roles in over 900 performances. As a displaced person in post-war Germany, he earned a scholarship to study chemistry at Amherst College, but later decided to forgo chemistry and pursued a career in opera. The bass-baritone had the longest career with the Met of any Ukrainian-born artist.

Andrij Dobriansky was born in 1930 on the outskirts of Lviv, during the interbellum period of rule by the Second Polish Republic. His father, Agaton Dobriansky, was a Ukrainian officer and veteran of both the Legion of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen and the Ukrainian People's Army, and his mother, Teodora (née Wynnytsky de Chechil), was a violinist at the Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet.

After his parents separated, his mother moved with him and his younger sister, Zvenislava, to live in the heart of the city in the same building where Solomiya Krushelnytska, a renowned soprano of the early 20th century, lived. The building was known as a haven for intellectuals and artists. In this environment, the young Dobriansky was exposed several opera singers such as the tenor Vasyl Tysiak, baritone Lev Reinarovych, and bass Ivan Rubchak.

Trapped in Lvov after the Nazi and Soviet invasions of Poland, Andrij, Zvenislava, and their mother managed to stay together until 1944, when 13-year-old Andrij was "rounded up" (Polish: Łapanka) and sent by train to work as a labor camp conscript in Germany. He finished his secondary education in a displaced persons camp near Heidenau. After the passage of the Displaced Persons Act, he received a scholarship to Amherst College and arrived in America in October 1950 aboard the USS General S. D. Sturgis.