Ignace Jan Paderewski

Ignace Jan Paderewski or Ignacy Jan (1860-1941), Polish pianist, composer, and statesman, born in Podolia, and educated at the Warsaw Conservatory and in Berlin and Vienna. Shortly after making debuts in Vienna in 1887 and in Paris in 1889, he established himself as the most popular concert pianist since Franz Liszt and was especially known for his interpretations of the music of the Polish composer Frédéric Chopin. Paderewski made the first of many tours of the U.S. in 1891. His compositions include the opera Manru (1901), a symphony, concertos, and orchestral and piano pieces, among which is his popular Minuet in G. Between 1910 and 1920 Paderewski devoted himself to the cause of Polish independence; he aided in the assistance of victims of World War I in Poland and made concert tours in the U.S. to raise funds for Polish relief. After the war he was elected prime minister and foreign minister in the Polish republic, and he held office from January to November 1919.