Nikolai Medtner
Composer
Prolific musician. He wrote 14 piano sonatas, three violin sonatas, three piano concerti, 108 songs, and the popular 38 "Skazki" solos.
He won the Anton Rubinstein prize while attending the Moscow Conservatory, from which he graduated in 1900 when he was 20.
His income took a hit at the start of World War II, as did his health. He was taken in by pupil Edna Iles, who gave him a refuge in which to finish his Third Piano Sonata.
He was born the youngest of five children and first received piano lessons from his mother. His cousin was Russian composer and pianist Alexander Goedicke.
He found an advocate in the older Sergei Rachmaninoff who brought him to the United States and Canada in 1924. The composer often featured only his young friend's work at Rachmaninoff recitals.