Alexander Borodin

Born in 1833 to Georgian–Russian parents, Borodin trained as a doctor and chemist, making early contributions to organic synthesis — he was among the first to demonstrate nucleophilic substitution and co-discovered the aldol reaction. He joined "The Five", a circle bent on forging a uniquely Russian classical sound, and produced his symphonies, In the Steppes of Central Asia, and the opera Prince Igor in whatever time medicine and science left him. In 1885 he founded the School of Medicine for Women in Saint Petersburg and taught there until illness and work consumed his final years. He died s…