For Subscribers

In Focus: A 1948 violin by Zenon Wladimir Petesh

2026-10-23T07:39:00

bb

Bruce Braun Babbitt inspects the US maker’s mid-century instrument

Zenon Wladimir Petesh was born in western Ukraine on 2 June 1906. Between 1937 and 1940 he worked for his fellow Ukrainian Dmitri Didtschenko in Warsaw, Poland, where he had the chance to examine several good examples of the violin maker’s craft. In 1941 Didtschenko departed Warsaw for Markneukirchen, leaving Petesh to take over the shop. Petesh stayed there until 1944 when he moved to Nuremberg, Germany. He remained there for four years until he decided to immigrate to the US. He left Europe with almost nothing: only the two violins he had just completed. The violin featured here is one of them…

Already subscribed? Please sign in

Subscribe to continue reading…

We’re delighted that you are enjoying our website. For a limited period, you can try an online subscription to The Strad completely free of charge.

  • Free 7-day trial

    Not sure about subscribing? Sign up now to read this article in full and you’ll also receive unlimited access to premium online content, including the digital edition and online archive for 7 days.

    Free trial

    No strings attached – we won’t ask for your card details

  • Subscribe 

    No more paywalls. To enjoy the best in-depth features and analysis from The Strad’s latest and past issues, upgrade to a subscription now. You’ll also enjoy regular issues and special supplements* and access to an online archive of issues back to 2010.

    Subscribe

 

* Issues and supplements are available as both print and digital editions. Online subscribers will only receive access to the digital versions.