Jerzy Żurawlew

Jerzy Żurawlew was a Polish pianist, conductor, teacher, and founder of the International Chopin Piano Competition.

Life

Żurawlew was born at Rostov-on-Don in Russia in 1886. He studied with Aleksander Michałowski at the Warsaw Conservatory until 1913, and taught there himself from 1923. In 1916 he founded a music school in Minsk, and in 1920 one in Białystok.
He was the founder of the International Chopin Piano Competition, at Warsaw in 1927. His lifelong friend, Henryk Rewkiewicz - businessman, music lover and board member of The Warsaw Music Society - offered his personal financial guarantees to help get the Competition off the ground.
Żurawlew died in Warsaw in 1980, aged 93.