chambers_search-1

Search Chambers

Consult Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, The Chambers Thesaurus (1996) or Chambers Biographical Dictionary (1997 edition with amendments). Enter your search and choose your title from the drop-down menu.

Borodin, Aleksandr Porfirevich 1833-87
Russian composer and scientist

Born in St Petersburg, he was an illegitimate son of Prince Gedeanov, who registered him as the child of a serf. Borodin trained in medicine and distinguished himself as a chemist, then in 1862 began to study music, under Mili Alekseyevich Balakirev. His works include the unfinished opera Prince Igor (1869-70, 1874-87, which contains the Polovtsian Dances), three symphonies, and the symphonic sketch In the Steppes of Central Asia (1880). From 1872, he lectured in chemistry at the St Petersburg School of Medicine for Women.