Frédéric Chopin

Fryderyk Chopin, to give him his original Polish name, was born around 30 miles west of Warsaw in 1810. The family soon moved to the city itself, where Chopin’s father held a teaching post at the Lyceum. Learning the piano from an early age, Chopin was recognised as a child prodigy and began giving concerts in the city from the age of seven. He later studied at the Lyceum himself and composed the first of his Etudes while still based in Warsaw. He left the city in 1830, shortly before the major uprising.