Eugene Raskin

Eugene Raskin or Gene Raskin (Bronx, New York, 5 September 1909 – Manhattan, New York, 7 June 2004), was an American musician and playwright, author of the lyrics of the English version of the Russian song "Those Were the Days" and also of three books on architecture and adjunct professor at Columbia University (1936–1976).

Life

Raskin was born in the Bronx in 1909. He studied at Columbia University and eventually became adjunct professor of architecture at his Alma Mater between 1936 and 1976.

He wrote two plays: in 1949 One's a Crowd, a comedy about an atomic scientist who develops four personalities after his experiments go horribly wrong; in 1951 a romantic play entitled Amata; and later, The Old Friend.

In 1954, Raskin published Architecturally Speaking; Sequel to Cities came in 1971 and Architecture and People in 1974. He also wrote a novel, Stranger in my Arms. In the early 1960s, Raskin and his wife Francesca played folk music around Greenwich Village in New York. They released an album which included "Those Were The Days", which was initially taken up by the Limeliters.