UNKNOWN PERSON
Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860-1941)
c. 1891RCIN 2907437
This photograph was almost certainly taken in 1891, and on 2 July of that year Paderewski first played at Windsor Castle before Queen Victoria. The programme included works by Mendelssohn, Schubert, Liszt, Schumann and Chopin, as well as some of his own compositions. He played again for the Queen at Windsor on 29 June 1900. Paderewski was to achieve world-wide success as a musician, but never forgot his own country, Poland, and worked ceaselessly in her interest. He became the first Prime Minister of the newly independent Poland in 1919.