Mitrofan Pyatnitsky was a Russian and Soviet musician, performer and collector of Russian folk songs; founder and first artistic director of the Russian Folk Choir, which was later named after him.

Mitrofan Yefimovich was born on 3 July 1864 in the village of Aleksandrovka near Voronezh in a poor family of a sexton. He was the ninth child out of twelve. Parents could not give the talented son a special choice in education and profession. The boy studied at the local parishional school, and then was following in the footsteps of his brothers to the theological school at the Voronezh seminary. However, his studies at the seminary did not go well: the young man had a nervous breakdown and at the end of the next holiday his parents left him at home.

At first Mitrofan studied to be a locksmith, then he went to Voronezh to earn money, where he got a job as a clerk in the local Control Chamber, and after learning accounting, he started working as an economist. In parallel with his work, Mitrofan was fond of collecting folk songs, which he carefully recorded. The young man also took singing lessons from the music teacher Lev Obraztsov. These lessons helped Mitrofan Pyatnitsky to train his voice, and in the spring of 1896, after a successful audition at the Conservatory, he was accepted to study. Unhappy love led the young man to a deep depression. Instead of travelling to Moscow to study at the Conservatoire, Pyatnitsky returned to his parents' home, and for several months he had no contact with anyone. As a result, his parents sent him to the Voronezh a clinic for the mentally ill persons, and then, thanks to the efforts of friends, he was transferred to a similar Moscow clinic, where advanced treatment methods were applied. Mitrofan Pyatnitsky worked as an accountant in the same clinic.

On one of his touring visits to Moscow, Mattia Battistini heard Pyatnitsky singing a song in Italian, and then the young man sang several Russian folk songs. The Italian singer was amazed by his skill. Acquaintance with the famous baritone helped Pyatnitsky to look into his singular path in creativity. He decided to devote himself to folklore.

In 1902, M. Pyatnitsky created a small folk song ensemble. A year later he became a member of the Musical and Ethnographic Commission at the Imperial Society of Amateurs of Natural History, Anthropology and Ethnography. During this period Pyatnitsky buckled down to collecting Russian folk songs, travelling to villages and rural areas. In addition, he built up a collection of folk instruments and costumes. In 1904, Pyatnitsky published at his own expense a small book booklet "12 songs of Voronezh province, Bobrovsky parish". This book brought Pyatnitsky fame – he was increasingly invited ensemble Assembly of the Nobility. Singing peasants appeared in front of the public. The primary cast numbered eighteen people from three Russian provinces. A song in village life is associated with a game or ritual, so Pyatnitsky strove for a “figurative representation” – visualization of the song. Сhorists were dressed in country clothing and acted out episodes of rural life against a backdrop of appropriate scenery. Until the early 1920s, the singers were constantly invited to perform in concerts in Moscow, and then they returned to their villages. Only 10 years later, Mitrofan Pyatnitsky took the choir participants to the capital, and they began to perform on a regular basis. Lowborn Russian peasants who had never studied music sang in the choir of Pyatnitsky. The following songs were identified in the programme:
- choral pieces with accompaniment of early musical instruments – psaltery (old Russian stringed instrument), zhaleyka (old Russian wind instrument), lyre;
- bylinas (heroic epic ballades) and historical songs;
- mourners' lamentations.

The audience loved those performances; the concerts were highly appreciated by the composer Sergey Rachmaninoff, opera singer Fyodor Chaliapin, and writer Ivan Bunin. However, there were other reviews in the newspapers, where Pyatnitsky was called a "promoter of archaic style".

Mitrofan Yefimovich literally snuggled up with his choir, continuing his trips to the countryside, collecting and recording not only songs and ancient rites – he also created comprehensive collection of folk clothing and musical instruments. During the First World War, Pyatnitsky created a "choir of physically handicapped" in the clinic where he worked (among those singing were disabled war veterans, holders of the Order of St George. Many members of the choir, often illiterate, learnt the basics of musical literacy and took up choral singing.

It was not until 1919, that Mitrofan Pyatnitsky managed to fully restore the concert activity of the group; he united performers and connoisseurs of folk songs who moved to Moscow from remote villages and hamlets. The choir soon became popular again, and a large number of professional musical groups were created following the example. Pyatnitsky himself, remaining the all-time  artistic director of the choir until the end of his life; in 1921-1925 he was engaged in pedagogy – taught singing in the Third Studio of Moscow Art Theatre, the present-day Theatre named after at the current theatre named after E.B. Vakhtangov. In 1925, M.E. Pyatnitsky was awarded the title of Honoured Artist of the Republic. On January 21, 1927, Mitrofan Pyatnitsky died in Moscow, where he was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery. The choir was named after its founder. Nowadays, the M.E. Pyatnitsky State Russian Folk Choir continues to carry out a great concert and creative activity.

A musical selection for the 160^th birth anniversary of Mitrofan Pyatnitsky is posted in the museum Phonotheque.