Leonid Vitalyevich Sobinov, born on May 26, 1872, in Yaroslavl and died on October 14, 1934, in Riga, was an outstanding Russian opera singer, a lyrical tenor, and a People's Artist of the Republic since 1923. He is considered one of the leading representatives of the Russian classical vocal school and was the brother of Sergey Vitalyevich Volgin.

Sobinov received a legal education at Moscow University, but after graduating in 1899, he decided to leave his legal practice to fully dedicate himself to music. He joked about himself, calling himself "the best singer among lawyers or the best lawyer among singers."

During World War I, Sobinov organized concert tours, which managed to raise over 200,000 rubles for the aid of the wounded and for charitable needs.

He served twice as the director of the Bolshoi Theatre: in 1917, 1918, and 1921. From October 1917, Sobinov was the commissioner of the theatre of the Moscow Council, and in 1919 he was elected a member of the Directorate of the Bolshoi Theatre.

Sobinov left the stage at the age of 60 in 1933. While in Riga, he died of a heart attack in his sleep at the "Saint Petersburg" hotel. His body was transported to Moscow by a special funeral train and buried at Novodevichy Cemetery. Some sources mention strange circumstances surrounding his death, linking it to the murder of Archbishop of Riga John (Pommer) the day before. The Soviet embassy did not allow the Latvian police to conduct an investigation, sending the body to Moscow the next day.