Nicolas Chopin
| Nicolas Chopin | |
|---|---|
Nicolas Chopin. Photo of lost painting by Ambroży Mieroszewski, 1829
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| Born |
15 April 1771 Marainville-sur-Madon, Vosges, France |
| Died | 3 May 1844 (aged 73) Warsaw, Poland (then Russian Empire) |
| Cause of death | Tuberculosis |
| Spouse(s) | Justyna Krzyżanowska |
| Children |
Ludwika Chopin Jędrzejewicz Frédéric Chopin Izabella Chopin Barcińska Emilia Chopin |
| Parent(s) | François Chopin Marguerite Deflin |
Nicolas Chopin (in Polish: Mikołaj Chopin; 15 April 1771 – 3 May 1844) was a teacher of French language in Prussian- and Russian-ruled Poland, and father of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin.
Nicolas Chopin was born in the village of Marainville-sur-Madon (Vosges department), in the province of Lorraine, France. He was the son of François Chopin (9 November 1738, Ambacourt – 31 January 1814, Marainville), a wheelwright and village administrator for Marainville, and Marguerite, née Deflin (1 February 1736, Diarville – 21 August 1794, Marainville), an educator respected by her colleagues and students. François and Marguerite were married on 17 January 1769.
Nicolas had four sisters, only two of whom survived to adulthood: Anne (b. 23 November 1769, Marainville), who married Joseph Thomas on 13 February 1798, and Marguerite (5 August 1775, Marainville – 10 March 1845), who married Nicolas Bastien on 2 December 1798. Nicolas' godmother was his aunt Thérèse Lhumbert née Chopin, the half-sister of his father François.
Nicolas graduated from the gymnasium at Tantimont, a nearby advanced secondary school dedicated to training youth for the teaching profession and the priesthood. As village administrator, François Chopin was acquainted with Adam Jan Weydlich, the Polish-born estate administrator for Count Michał Jan Pac. Weydlich took an interest in the education of young Nicolas, teaching him the rudiments of the Polish language, while Weydlich's wife—a Parisian, Françoise-Nicole née Schelling—taught him French and German literature, music, etiquette, calligraphy, and accounting.
In late 1787, after the death of Count Pac, Weydlich returned to Poland with his family, and he offered sixteen-year-old Nicolas the chance to come with him. Weydlich became the supervisor of a tobacco company (Manufaktura Tytoniowa w Warszawie) founded in 1777 by Jan Dekert, , and . Nicolas worked at the factory, 1787–89, probably as an accounting clerk. Nicolas and the Weydlich family lived with Adam's brother, Franciszek Weydlich, in tenements of the Holy Cross Church on Krakowskie Przedmieście.
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