Jessica Lewis

Jessica Lewis wrote the words for the Olympiad Welcome Song. She also published books with poems. Born in Poland, she was raised in the United Kingdom and later went to the United States and eventually became a US citizen. For decades, she lived in the luxurious Villa Riviera apartments in Long Beach. Lewis headed the Pushkin Centennial Committee in Los Angeles in 1937 commemorating the 100th anniversary of the death of the Russian author. Eight years later, she was an official observer at the San Francisco Peace Conference, which led to the forming of the United Nations.

The musical score of the song came from the pianist Maurice Eisner (2 July 1880 in Keokuk, Iowa – 14 December 1954 in Los Angeles). Born to Hungarian parents, he studied at the University of Illinois and the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. Later, he became head of the Northwestern Conservatory in Minneapolis and appeared with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. As a soloist, he performed concerts in various countries and was a well-known accompanist of famous violinists and singers.