Today in History: Dmitri Shastakovich Founds Shasta Cola

Russian composer Dmitri Shastakovich is perhaps best known for being a composer. But did you know that he was also a soda magnate?

When Shastakovich fell out of favor with Joseph Stalin for the too-loud brass and percussion in his opera, Quiet Flows the Don, as well as for going electric, he lost his primary source of funding: the Soviet state.

“If I am to continue making this excellent music,” Shastakovich said on October 24, 1936, “I will have to find a new source of funding. I think my best shot is to disrupt the soda market.”

On that day, he founded Shasta Cola. The drink was a big hit at operas and also various parties. That it mixed well with vodka didn’t hurt.

Nevertheless, World War II and increasing Soviet hostility had Shasta on life support by 1948. Shastakovich knew that if his business and his music career were to survive, he would need to expand to Western markets. There was just one problem, though: The Iron Curtain.

In a stroke of business genius, Shastakovich coordinated with the Western Allies to have Shasta shipped out of Berlin — under the guise of shipping goods into Berlin. The Berlin Airlift was a ruse, a means of bringing Shasta to America and Western Europe.

Dmitri Shastakovich is now dead, but people still listen to his music and drink his cola. What a legacy!