David Raisky was born in Russia on February 20, 1891 in what was known as White Russia or Belarus. Raisky was a bright student who enjoyed studying music and other topics. He started piano lessons by age five and competed for a music scholarship with sixty-five other students that he won in Kiev. His family was persecuted because they were Jews by the Czarist government. They fled Russia and Raisky continued his studies at the University of Berne where he studied medicine while supporting himself as a musician. Raisky spoke five languages fluently that he learned while working the resorts in Europe as a musician during his summer holidays. After graduating from medical school in 1922 he started practicing medicine in a Swiss hospital. He immigrated to the United States in 1929 on a temporary visa, returning only for a year to Switzerland to obtain permanent residence in the United States. In 1932 he published an article in a medical journal on the Circulation System which attracted international notoriety. By 1935 he became naturalized and was married to Miss Helene Wiesen of New York City. In 1940 the Raisky’s purchased Judge Noble’s residence in Brentwood and maintained a summer home well after the doctor’s death. At this time Raisky was chief of Arthritic Clinic at Lebenon Hospital in New York City. Their home was open to many famous musicians such as Leon Fleisher, New York City Pianist. Dr. Raisky died on December 15, 1949 at his home in Brentwood and was buried in Montefiore Cemetery on Long Island. His legacy includes over eighty musical compositions that were published in Switzerland and New York City. Dr. Raisky was also an accomplished painter and sculpturer. One of his paintings is owned by the Academy of Medicine and is a watercolor of Valley Stream, Long Island. M. Koferl-- Local History Newsletter-- November 2008