And How Many National Anthems Did You Write?

This week Russia marked the passing of Sergei Mikhalkov, the man who had the unique distinction of writing the lyrics to the Russian national anthem not once, but three times during his life.

Mikhalkov first penned the lyrics of the anthem of the then-Soviet Union back in 1943 under the orders of Josef Stalin. But by the 1970's the anthem's references to the great leader Stalin seemed a bit out of place, so Mikhalkov was called upon again to re-write them.

After the end of the Soviet Union, the anthem, also full of references to Communism, was pitched all together as being not representative of the times (again). The problem was that Russia was never able to find a suitable replacement, so for awhile the stirring music of the Soviet anthem was brought back, sans lyrics. But the story goes that during the 2000 Olympics, President Vladimir Putin didn't like the fact that Russian gold medal winners had nothing to sing during the medal ceremony, so he ordered that new lyrics again be written, and again Mikhalkov picked up his pen.

Sergei Mikhalkov was 96 at the time of his death, in addition to writing and re-writing the Russian national anthem, he also was a respected writer of children's literature in the Soviet Union.