Víctor Alexander Marie Mirecki Larramat (21 July 18477 April 1921) was a Spanish cellist and music teacher of Franco-Polish origin. He was born in Tarbes, France and died in Madrid, Spain. Introduction Víctor Mirecki was one of the most versatile concert performers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was a worldly man with a great array of social and cultural relations and was known as an ingenious cellist for his manner of interpreting music and for his work as a chamber musician and teacher. His work with Jesús de Monasterio in the Quartet Society of Madrid () greatly influenced the Spanish music of the era, promoting contemporary European chamber music and allowing the work of emerging geniuses such as Manuel de Falla to spread. His dedication to teaching in the National School of Music, later known as the Madrid Royal Conservatory was important in fostering the next generation of innovators in cello techniques. He, along with the Belgian cellist Adrien-François Servais and the French cellist Auguste Franchomme, founded the Spanish school of cellists, whose most notable later students include Pablo Casals, Juan Ruiz Casaux (later Mirecki's son-in-law) and Augustín Rubio. Childhood and youth in France Son of the Polish Aleksander Mirecki and of Marie Zelinne Larramat, Víctor grew up in a notable musical environment. His father, marshal and hero of the November Uprising against Russia, had taken refuge in France. After a stay in Paris, his father moved to Tarbes, where he taught violin. His three sons, Víctor, Maurice and Françoise, were born there, and they all eventually became dedicated to music. In 1857, at the age of ten, Víctor moved with his family to Bordeaux, where his father taught the violin as a professor of the Conservatory. There he began his studies for a military career in the Lycée. In April 1862, the cellist Adrien-François Servais and the violinist Henri Vieuxtemps were visiting Bordeaux and were sheltered in the Mirecki house. Impressed by these masters' performance and ability to interpret, the young Víctor, along with his brother Maurice, dedicated themselves to the cello for the next two years, under the supervision of their father. Víctor's natural talent was outstanding, and in March 1864, at 17 years of age, he played as a soloist in a public concert at the Bordeaux Conservatory in the presence of Servais. Víctor's success was such that Servais convinced Victor's father to