Sergei Bortkiewicz (; – 25 October 1952) was a Russian-born Austrian Romantic composer and pianist. He moved to Vienna in 1922 and became a naturalized Austrian citizen in 1926. Life Early life Sergei Eduardovich Bortkiewicz was born in Kharkov, Russian Empire (today Kharkiv, Ukraine) on 28 February 1877 to parents Eduard and Zofia (née Uszyńska) Bortkiewicz, who were Polish aristocrats. He spent most of his childhood on the family estate of Artiomovka, near Kharkov. Bortkiewicz received his musical training from Anatoly Lyadov and Karl von Arek at the Imperial Conservatory of Music in Saint Petersburg. In 1900 he left Saint Petersburg and travelled to Leipzig, where he became a student of Alfred Reisenauer and Salomon Jadassohn, both pupils of Franz Liszt. In July 1902, Bortkiewicz completed his studies at the Leipzig Conservatory and was awarded the Schumann Prize on graduation. On his return to the Russian Empire in 1904, he married Elisabeth Geraklitowa, a friend of his sister, and then returned to Germany, where he settled in Berlin. It was there that he started to compose seriously. From 1904 until 1914, Bortkiewicz continued to live in Berlin but spent his summers visiting his family or travelling around Europe on concert tours. For a year he also taught at the Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory. There he met the Dutch pianist Hugo van Dalen, who became a lifelong friend. Van Dalen premiered Bortkiewicz's Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 16, in November 1913 in Berlin with the Blüthner Orchestra conducted by the composer. It was the greatest success of Bortkiewicz's early period. First World War The outbreak of World War I in 1914 changed Bortkiewicz's life. As Russian citizens, he and his wife were both placed under house arrest, then deported from Germany to Russia, via Scandinavia. He returned to Kharkov, where he established himself as a music teacher, and also gave concerts. The end of the war saw the beginning of the Russian Revolution, which forced the composer and his family to flee their estate at Artiomovka due to occupation by the Bolsheviks. In June 1919, the Bolsheviks fled before the White Army and Bortkiewicz was able to return and help rebuild the family estate, which had been completely plundered. While Bortkiewicz traveled to Yalta with his wife, Kharkov fell to the Red Army, which meant that he and his family could not return to Artiomovka. With the area now surrounded by the Red