Bolesław Kon

Bolesław Kon (9 December 1906 – 10 June 1936) was a Polish concert pianist who won international acclaim in his brief career. Kon was born into a poor Jewish family in Warsaw. He began his piano training aged about 10, at the Moscow Conservatory under Konstantin Igumnov. In 1924 he returned to Poland and continued his studies, first at the Chopin Higher Academy, and then at the Warsaw Conservatory under Aleksander Michałowski and afterwards under Juliusz Wertheim and Zbigniew Drzewiecki. Even as a student he showed extraordinary powers, and a front-rank career was anticipated for him. After graduation he moved to Kraków as professor of piano at the Music Society Conservatory there, of which he became Director in 1929–1931. By now he was...