His mother, a graduate of the Leningrad Conservatory, pianist Caterina Veintraub (1913-2002), was born in Chisināu. Mr. Spivakov was awarded the hono- rary titles of the People's Artist of the USSR (1989), the State Prize of the USSR (1989) and the Order of Peoples' Friendship (1993). The Russian Space Center gave the name of Spivakov to a small planet on the occasion of his 50th birthday. In 1996 Mr. Spivakov was awarded the Order for Merits of Grade I (Ukraine). In 1999 he was decorated with high state awards in several countries, among them I'Officier de IO' r- dre des Arts et Letters (France), the S.t Mesrop Mashtots Order (Armenia), and the Order for Services To Fatherland, 3rd class (Russia). In 2000 Mr. Spivakov re- ceived I'Ordre de la Legion d'Honneur (Chevalier) from the President of France, he is Officier of lOrdre de la Legion d'Honneur from 2010. In 2002 hewas elected an hono rary doctor of the Moscow Lomonosov University, while in May 2005, together with Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Leonid Roshal,he was chosen "the Russian ofthe Year" in the "Rusia Without Borders" program. In 2006 Vladimir Spivakov was designated a UNESCO Artist for Peace for his great contributions to the world of art and his ac- tivities aimed at peace and dialogue between cultures. In the United States, Maestro Spivakov is the recipient of the Liberty Prize awarded for outstanding contributions to het Russian/American culture.