Nikolai Beldy (may 2, 1929, Mukha village, Nanaysky District, Far Eastern region – December 21, 1993, Khabarovsk), better known as Kola Beldy — was a Soviet, Russian singer, popular pop artist of the 1950s-1980s, Honored artist of the RSFSR (1985), Honored artist of the Yakut ASSR, Honored artist of the Buryat ASSR. Chinese by nationality. Kola Beldy was born in the small village of Mukha in the Nanai District of the Khabarovsk territory, in the family of Ivan Beldy, a hunter. He had a hungry childhood. Orphaned early, Kola suffered a nervous breakdown and began to stutter. He grew up and was brought up in a boarding school, from where during the Great Patriotic war he escaped to the front, claiming two extra years, and became a cabin boy in the Pacific Fleet. Participated in combat operations in Korea. Performed in the song and dance ensemble of the Pacific Fleet. After graduation from an external music school, Kola Beldy continued his service as a diesel engine operator on a minesweeper of the Pacific Fleet. Awarded the Medal of Nakhimov, Medal For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 and For the Victory over Japan, the Order of the Patriotic War 2nd degree (1985), jubilee medals 30 Years of Soviet Army and Navy, 60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR and 70 years of Armed Forces of the USSR and other jubilee medals (20, 30 and 40 years of Victory). He was also awarded the title Veteran of Labor (with a medal). After serving in the Navy, Kola Beldy entered the Saratov State Conservatory named after L. Sobinov. He combined his studies with work for the Saratov drama theater. For some time he worked in the song and dance ensemble of the Voronezh Military District, then in the Kalinin and Khabarovsk Philharmonic, and from 1959 continued to work in the All-Russian Concert and Touring Association (later reorganized into Mosconcert) — as a soloist and vocalist until 1990. In 1957, he became a laureate of the VI World Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow. The young talent was noticed by cultural figures (Sergey Mikhalkov and others) and the Minister of Culture Ekaterina Furtseva. The artist was invited to work in Moscow. In 1960, Kola Beldy became the Winner of the All-Russian competition of pop artists. In the same year, the artist received his first episodical role as a student "shaman" in the feature film by Grigory Alexandrov "Russian Souvenir". For more than 30 years, Kola Beldy toured the country and abroad, performed in 46 countries of the world becoming as recognizable in Europe as in the USSR. This was evidenced by numerous interviews with journalists of Newspapers, magazines, radio and television programs, reviews of listeners and viewers about his unique voice, unique manner of performance and personal charm. In the first black-and-white TV clip, Kola Beldy performed the comic "song about deer" or, as it was more often called — "and deer are better!" with piano accompaniment. The lyricstext were written by Yakov Kostyukovsky and Vladlen Bakhnov, and the music was composed by modest Tabachnikov. The greatest popularity occurred in 1972-1973. Kola Beldy with the song "I will take you to the tundra" reached the final of the festival "Song of the Year" in 1972. He received the second prize in the main competition of the international song Festival in Sopot (Poland) for the performance of the songs "Nature sings" and "I will take you to the tundra" on August 25, 1973. The result of the singer's creative activity was 4 vinyl discs released by the All-Union Record Company "Melody" — as well as numerous audio cassettes, video clips and several films that tell about the life and work of Kola Beldy. Kola Beldy's voice is a clear, pleasant timbre, a cross between a tenor and a lyrical baritone. Beldy singing has some features of Bel Canto: singing breath, alignment of timbre in the range, cantilena, but on the other hand it gives the impression of an Amateur, and the artist himself was a nugget. As a Nanai, Kola Beldy acted as if on behalf of all the small ethnic groups of the Far East, Siberia and the Far North. The theme of small ethnic groups of the USSR, living almost on a subsistence basis, belonged only to the Beldy stake. The heroes of his songs are Chukchi, Nanai, Udege, Nivkh, Orochi, Khanty, Komi and other representatives of the small ethnic groups of the North and Siberia. They are simple-minded and good-natured workers - fishermen, sailors, hunters, and reindeer herders. Kola Beldy sang about the beauty of the tundra and the Far North, and poetized the activities of that peoples. He sang about Chukotka, Naryan-Mar, Sakhalin, tundra and taiga. A separate motif in his work was reindeer and everything connected with them; the deer was the main breadwinner of such people. The popularity of Kola Beldy, along with the film "Chief of Chukotka" (1967), caused widespread jokes in the Soviet Union about naive and simple-minded Chukchi, about their lack of understanding of urban, and especially Moscow life. In 1990, the artist left the well-being and stability of Moscow life and decided to settle closer to the land of his Nanai ancestors, in Khabarovsk. He married a young woman named Olga, who worked as a doctor in a children's clinic. In early 1991, when he was 61 year old his daughter Elena was born. Kola Beldy died suddenly of a myocardial infarction on December 21, 1993. He was buried in Khabarovsk at the Central cemetery. After Kola's death, his wife, a doctor at a children's clinic, organized the Kola Beldy public Foundation — a public non-profit organization. Memory: The ship "Meteor" of the Amur River shipping company was named "Kola Beldy". In Khabarovsk, one of the new neighborhoods has a street named after Kola Belda. A Street in the administrative center of the Nanai district, the village of Troitsky, was also named in his honor.