Jascha Heifetz (; – 10 December 1987) was a violinist, widely considered to be one of the finest violinists of modern times. Born in Wilno, Poland, Russian Empire (present-day Vilnius, Lithuania), he moved as a teenager to the United States, where his Carnegie Hall debut was rapturously received. The New York Times called him "perhaps the greatest violinist of all time." Fritz Kreisler, another leading violinist of the twentieth century, said on hearing Heifetz's debut, "We might as well take our fiddles and break them across our knees."