Russia's culture minister demanded Rachmaninoff's remains back from New York, and his descendants said no

Sergei Rachmaninoff left Russia in 1917 after the Bolshevik revolution. He became a US citizen shortly before he died of cancer at 69. He was buried at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York, with his wife and daughter. On 15 August 2015 Russian Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky said the United States had "shamelessly privatized" Rachmaninoff's name. He called the grave neglected and proposed moving the remains to a memorial complex on the family estate in the Novgorod region. A Novgorod deputy governor said Russian diplomats in New York were lobbying for the transfer. Medinsky had earlier blamed the descendants for a failed deal over the composer's belongings, including his grand piano. On 16 August the pianist Denis Matsuev, a presidential culture adviser, said he had moral doubts. Matsuev said the late grandson Alexandre had wanted the remains taken to Villa Senar, the composer's Swiss house. The great-great-granddaughter, Susan Sophia Volkonskaya-Wanamaker, told the BBC that his will asked for burial in New York. "We are not planning to go against his will, so his remains will stay where they were buried," she said. In 2026 the grave remains at Kensico.