"V Lesu Rodilas' Elochka" (A Fir-tree Was Born in the Forest) is one of the most famous Russian winter holiday songs. Composed by Leonid Beckman, a biologist by profession, who set to music the poem written by Raisa Kudasheva. Originally published in 1903 in the children's magazine "Malyutka", the song quickly gained enormous popularity and became an integral part of New Year and Christmas celebrations in Russia and former Soviet countries.