Soviet Faust

Leon Theremin, born at the end of the 19th Century, died at the end of the 20th, was a Russian and Soviet inventor. He is most famous for his invention of the theremin, one of the first electronic musical instruments. He was also the inventor of interlace, a technique of improving the picture quality of a video signal, widely used in video and television technology. His research helped protect the Kremlin and as an agent of the 'organs' (as the intelligence agency in the USSR was known) he created extraordinary security and listening devices. In the USA he became a musical celebrity, mixing with the cream of the musical elite and that of society.