Musician. He was an American-born violinist and conductor, who spent most of his performing career in Europe. Born what many considered a gifted child, he moved with his Bielorussian Jewish parents in 1918 to San Francisco, where his sisters were born, who both became accomplished pianists. His father, Moshe Mnuchin, authored several books on the Jewish faith and changed his surname to Menuhin in 1919, upon becoming an American citizen. In 1921, he began to study the violin and in three years, gave his first public debut performance. He performed Mendelssohn Violin Concerto at age seven and appeared with the San Francisco Orchestra a year later, receiving instant recognition as a fine musician. In 1926 he had his New York recital début at the Manhattan Opera House and after studying in Europe, he gave a performance at Carnegie Hall with the New York Symphony Orchestra in 1927. This followed with a tour in the United States and his first recording in 1928. In 1929 he was given a Stradivarius violin "Prince Khevenhüller." After his family made their home in Switzerland in 1929 , he performed in Germany and had his London début at Queen's Hall with the London Symphony Orchestra. Sources state that he was the highest paid musician in the world during these years. His family settled in Paris in 1931. In 1932 he performed Mozart and Bach concertos at the Royal Albert Hall in London. By 1933, Menuhin had played in 63 cities. In 1935 he made a world tour performing in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Europe with 110 concerts in 72 cities before taking an 18-month sabbatical. With World War II in Europe, he toured the United States and South America along with playing 500 concerts for the Allied military. After refusing concerts in Nazi Germany, he returned to Germany to play in April of 1945 for the newly-released Jewish inmates at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. He had experience prejudices throughout his life for his faith. At the end of the war, he played in Paris and Moscow and for the inaugural United Nations assembly in San Francisco. Producing 300 recordings, he had a 70-year contract with the same recording company, which is credited as the longest in history. Making first-time visits, he performed in Israel in 1950, Japan in 1951 and India in 1952. In 1954 he began teaching violin classes, at Nadia Boulanger's Academy in France, and in 1955, his family relocated to France. In 1959 after moving to England, he became the Artistic Director of the Bath Festival, staying with the event for ten years and recording with their orchestra. In 1960 he was honored with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1963 he established Yehudi Menuhin School in London, relocating the boarding school for young talented musicians to Surrey a year later. In 1965 he was made honorary Knight of the British Empire. He became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970. He accepted the position of Co-Artistic Director of Windsor Festival until 1972 and became the President of the International Music Council. For the first time, he conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1975, becoming their President in 1982. In 1977 he founded the International Menuhin Music Academy in Gstaad, Switzerland for young graduate string players. He established several musical charities. While visiting China in 1979, he was named the first-ever Western honorary professor of Beijing Conservatory. At that point, the first Chinese students were permitted to leave their country to study at the Menuhin School and Menuhin Academy. He performed for the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid. In 1985 after becoming a British citizen, he became Sir Yehudi and in 1987 Queen Elizabeth made him a Member of the Order of Merit. In 1991 he was awarded Israel's prestigious Wolf Prize. At the age of 80, he conducted 100 concerts, with his final public appearance as a solo violinist at the 40th Gstaad Festival. Politically, he was a well-known human rights activist, supporting Russian dissidents and the end of apartheid in South Africa. In 1995 at the release of Nelson Mandela, he conducted Handel's "Messiah" in South Africa. Shortly after the collapse of the Communist regime in 1989, he conducted Handel's "Messiah" in the Kremlin in Russia. In 1993 he became a baron, The Right Honorable the Lord Menuhin of Stoke d'Abernon, OM KBE, taking his seat in the British House of Lords. In 1977 he published his autobiography "Unfinished Journey." In 1938, he married Nola Nicholas, and the couple had a son and a daughter. He divorced his first wife in 1947 and married Diana Gould in London and the couple had three sons with one dying as a newborn. In 1992 he was honored with the title of Ambassador of Goodwill to Unesco. Posthumously, the "International Menuhin Competition for Young Violinists" was started in his honor and the Yehudi Menuhin School of Music continues. In 1968, he received the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding, an international award presented by the Government of India in the name of the country's first prime minister. He was an honorary doctor of twenty universities, including Oxford, Cambridge and the University of St. Andrews. A biography, "The Menuhins: A Family Odyssey" was published in 1978 by his nephew Lionel Rolfe.