Tchaikovsky was born on May 7, 1840 in Kamsko-Votkinsk, Russia to a Ukrainian mining engineer and his second wife, a woman of French ancestry. His last name derives from chayka which means gull. Musically talented, Tchaikovsky began piano lessons at the age of five. He went on to study at the St. Petersburg Conservatory from 1861 to 1865. In 1866, he was appointed professor of theory and harmony at the Moscow Conservatory, established that year. He held the post until approximately 1878 and while there became known for his operas, Second Symphony, and First Piano Concerto.
After a brief, unsuccessful marriage, Tchaikovsky once again decided to focus on his craft. Among his greatest works during this period were the ballets Swan Lake (1876–7), The Sleeping Beauty (1890), and The Nutcracker (1892), the last three of his six symphonies, two piano concertos, the 1812 Overture, and several tone poems, notably Romeo and Juliet and Capriccio Italien. Just nine days after the first performance of his Sixth Symphony, Pathétique, in 1893, in St. Petersburg, Tchaikovsky died. The great composer had spent years dodging rumors of his homosexuality and his death was thought to be a suicide.
