| Born of Georgian descent in St. Petersburg in 1933, Alexander Borodin was the illegitimate son of an aristocratic father, Prince Gedianove, but was registered instead as the son of one of the serfs of the nobleman. A very talented youngster, Alexander Borodin could speak four European languages and play the cello, flute and the piano. He had piano lessons and also a good education as a young boy. However, he finally completed his studies in medicine where he earned a doctorate from the Medico Surgery Academy and went on to follow a profession in the sciences.
Alexander Borodin was also a member of a team of composers who were committed to making only a special sort of Russian classical music. He is famous for his opera Prince Igor, for his symphonies and also for Kismet, a musical. He had a love of both chemistry and music and alongside his skills in medicine he also mastered the art of playing the cello.
He was very involved in chemistry and added to this he had problems in his life at home. As a result he could not devote much time to composing his music and was in his own words a "Sunday composer."
On 27th February 1987, during a festive dance in which Alexander Borodin was taking a very active part, he unexpectedly had a heart attack and died. He was buried at the Tikhvin Cemetery which is in the monastery of Alexander Nevsky at Saint Petersburg. |
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