Eduard Sõrmus (9 July 1878 — 16 August 1940) was an early 20th-century Estonian violinist. He was sometimes known as the Red Violinist (der rote Geiger). Biography Childhood Eduard Sõrmus was born in the village of Kõivu, Luunja Parish, Tartu County, in the Governorate of Livonia, the Russian Empire (present-day Estonia). He inherited part of his interest for music from his mother Leena, who had a lovely singing voice and who used to sing during her daily tasks. When Sõrmus was 6 years old, his father gave him his first violin. Sõrmus's first music teacher was a local tailor named Gustav Puks. Sõrmus went to Hugo Treffner Gymnasium in Tartu from 1888. In gymnasium, he continued playing violin with Johann Kelder, who was a medical student in the University of Tartu. Early career Sõrmus then gave his first concerts in his farmstead and in a neighbouring house. In 1899, Sõrmus went to university and started studying law at the university. After a year in the faculty of law, he changed his studies over to history and languages. In 1902, Sõrmus continued his violin studies at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory under the hand of violin master Leopold Auer. Sõrmus became active in the Russian Revolutionary movement and eventually took part in the 1905 Russian Revolution. Many music critics have noted Edouard's violin virtuosity: Sermus studied with Henri Marteau in Berlin in 1910 and with Lucien Capet in Paris in 1913. Red Violinist (der rote Geiger) In 1904, he began touring, giving violin recitals and giving ardent speeches of proletarian sufferings and miseries. That was enough to be listed in the police's list of most wanted. In 1906, because of his revolutionary activity, he was forced to flee Russia, so he toured Europe giving recitals. Sõrmus spent World War I in Paris and London, after which he returned to Russia for a couple of years and then toured the continent again. During many concerts across Europe his wife, Virginia, played the pianoforte. Sõrmus was a labour activist. He gave a number of charity concerts, the proceeds of which went to help the poor, and concerts to children. Near Dresden, there is a children's orphanage which was built with donation money collected during Sõrmus's concerts. In the 1920s, he was mainly active in Germany. There are several streets named after him: Soermus-Straße in the city of Zwickau, Schumann's birthplace, and Eduard-Soermus-Straße in the