Sviatoslav Richter was the son of Theophil Danilovich Richter, a pianist, organist, composer, teacher at the Odessa Conservatory, and organist of the city Lutheran church. Sviatoslav said that his father had a great influence on him in childhood and youth, was his first teacher, and that he constantly listened to his playing.
The Richter family moved to Odessa in 1916. Theophil Richter was arrested in August 1941 and executed on 6 October 1941 in Odessa, ten days before the beginning of the German occupation. He was posthumously rehabilitated in February 1962. On the day of his father's death, Sviatoslav Richter would play recordings of his favorite works and listen in silence.
