Ignacy Jan Paderewski

About

Internationally beloved virtuoso musician, composer, and politician who became an advocate for Polish nationalism.

Before Fame

He entered into the Warsaw Conservatorium when he was 12 and would devote himself wholly to music after the death of his first son in the early 1880s.

Trivia

He was Poland's representative at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919.

Family Life

His mother, Poliksena, died soon after he was born, and his father, Jan, was arrested for his involvement in the 1863 January Uprising, leaving the boy to be raised by distant relatives.

Associated With

He was referenced in 1953's The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, written by Dr. Seuss, in which pupils are told that Dr. Terwilliker will make a Paderewski out of them.