Niccolò Paganini was a virtuoso violinist and composer born in Genoa in 1782 to a merchant family. He began playing violin at age 7, and quickly outpaced all his professors. The gifted young musician began touring the country at 18 years old, working as a freelance violinist, and was later appointed as First Violin in the Republic of Lucca in the state of Tuscany. When the area was annexed by Napoleon in 1805, the French princess Elisa Baciocchi took over the region, and Paganini began to play for her court. He resumed his tours after the princess’s court moved to Florence. After a concert at the Scala in Milan, Paganini began to get noticed and started touring every major city in Europe after receiving a prestigious award from the Pope himself. He performed his own compositions, as well as adaptations of works from fellow composers.  

Though he never married and had no legitimate children, he had many romantic conquests, among them Italian singer Antonia Bianchi. His health remained problematic throughout his whole life, as he was believed to suffer from a rare genetic condition affecting joints and tissues, as well as syphilis and tuberculosis. He died relatively young in 1840, at age 57, from internal hemorrhaging. 

Niccolò Paganini is considered to be one of the most virtuoso violinists of all time, and leaves behind a musical legacy consisting of many works, such as the Violin Concerto No. 1 (1818), 24 Caprices for Solo Violin (1802-1817), Moses Fantasy (1818), Centone di Sonate, Vol. 1 (1828-29), Moto perpetuo (1835) and his Variations on God Save the King (1829).