name is known all over the world. He was born
May 7, 1840 in Votkinsk, Vyatka region in the family of an engineer. His father was 45 and his mother was 26 when he was born. All his life Tchaikovsky adored his mother and two younger brothers Modest and Anatoly, who were twins. They understood each other and had very close relations.Tchaikovsky started to play the piano and compose music when he was very young. But he worked for a time as a clerk in the Ministry of Justice, though music was his true passion. In his early twenties he completely turned to a life of music. Tchaikovsky was one of the charter students of the St. Petersburg Conservatory which Rubinstein founded. At twenty-six he become one of the first professors at the Moscow Conservatory.