Valery Afanassiev

 Valery Afanassiev was born in Moscow. He studied piano at the Moscow Conservatory with Emil Gilels and Yakov Zak. In 1969 he was the winner of the Bach Competition in Leipzig, and three years later at the Concours Reine Elisabeth in Brussels. After a tour in Belgium, he decided to seek political asylum in the West and became a citizen of Belgium.
Along with his musical activities Afanassiev is also author of novels. He lives in Versailles.