Matvey Isaakovich Blanter, born on February 10, 1903, in Pochep, Chernigov Governorate of the Russian Empire, was a prominent Soviet composer renowned for his popular songs and film music. He was the son of a Jewish craftsman and studied piano and violin at the Kursk Higher Music School before continuing his education in Moscow, where he focused on violin and composition.

Blanter's career began in the 1920s with the composition of light dance and jazz music, including the hit foxtrot "John Gray" in 1923. As Soviet culture became more ideologically strict in the 1930s, he shifted to writing Soviet propaganda songs and became a key figure in the creation of the Soviet "mass song." His works from this period include "The Song of Shchors" (1935) and "Partisan Zheleznyak" (1936), both of which mythologized Bolshevik heroes from the Russian Civil War.

In 1938, Blanter collaborated with poet Mikhail Isakovsky to create "Katyusha," a song that gained international fame and became an anthem during World War II. Blanter's wartime compositions also include "The Enemy Burned Down His Home" (1945), which faced censorship for its pessimistic tone.

Blanter continued to compose after the war, producing songs like "The Migrant Birds Are Flying" (1949). He was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1946 and was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1975. Blanter passed away on September 27, 1990, in Moscow and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery. His legacy includes over two thousand songs characterized by their lyricism and connection to Russian folk music.