Vasily Ilyich Safonov

Vasily Ilyich Safonov (Russian: Васи́лий Ильи́ч Сафо́нов, Vasi'lij Ilji'č Safo'nov; 6 February 1852 – 27 February 1918), also known as Wassily Safonoff, was a Russian pianist, teacher, conductor and composer.

Vasily Safonov, or Safonoff as he was known in the West during his lifetime, was born at Ishcherskaya () (also known as Itschory, Itsyursk, or Itsiursk), Russian Caucasus (now in Chechnya), son of the Cossack General Ilya Ivanovich Safonov.

Vasily was educated at the Imperial Alexandra Lyceum, Saint Petersburg, and at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory of Music 1881-1885 under Louis Brassin. He graduated as Bachelor of Laws, and won the gold medal as a pianist of the Conservatory. He was also a pupil of Theodor Leschetizky and Nikolai Zaremba.

Vasily Safonov had several daughters. Anna Vasilyevna Timiryova (1893-1975) was a poet who spent much of her life in labor camps or in exile.Varvara Vasilievna Safonova (1895-1942), a painter, died during the siege of Leningrad. Yelena Vasilievna Safonova (1902-1980), studied painting, designed theatre costumes, and published children's books. From 1932 to 1958 she lived in exile in the city of Kursk.

Safonov was never a particularly successful composer in his own right, but was a master music educator, becoming Director of the Moscow Conservatory in 1889. He was the director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York.

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