Singer Kozin, convicted of sodomy, erected a monument in Magadan

The monument in Magadan was opened to the pop singer, composer and poet Vadim Kozin on the 110th anniversary of his birth, reports Sever DV news agency.

The monument was erected in the park on Karl Marx Avenue, next to Kozin’s apartment-museum.

Vadim Kozin was born in St. Petersburg in 1906, he himself claimed that in 1903. On this date, Magadan celebrates the 110th anniversary of the artist’s birth. At the beginning of his creative career, Kozin narrated feature films, and in the 1920s he began to sing himself. Kozin spoke with Marlene Dietrich at the Tehran Conference in front of Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt.

In 1944, Kozin was sentenced to 8 years under Article 121 (for sodomy and seduction of minors) and sent to Kolyma, but for good behavior he was released early in 1950. In 1959, Kozin was again tried under the same article.

Until his death in 1994, Kozin lived in Magadan. In June 2012, a law banning “homosexual propaganda” came into force in the Magadan region. According to this law, in Magadan “public actions aimed at popularizing sodomy, lesbianism, bisexuality among minors are prohibited, unless these actions entail administrative liability established by the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses.” Violators face a fine of 5 to 500 thousand rubles.