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Bernice Rubens

This book was based on the experiences of her brother Harold Rubens, a child prodigy pianist, and his teacher Madame Maria Levinskaya, who inspired the character of Madame Sousatzka.

Harold Rubens

At the age of seven having, according to his sister Bernice Rubens, “exhausted all the local teachers”, Harold began travelling to London to study with Madame Maria Levinskaya.

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Bernice, a Booker prize winner, would use his study with Madame Levinskaya as the subject of her book, Madame Sousatzka, which subsequently became a film with Shirley MacLaine in the title role.

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