Musician. Nikolai Rubinstein is recognized as a remarkable Russian pianist and founded the Conservatorium of Music in Moscow in 1866. Several noted Russian musicians attended his school. Born of Jewish parentage at Wechwotynetz in Podolia, which is the Republic of Moldov, in the 21st century, his family was forced to convert in 1834 to Russian Orthodoxy as they resided under the rule of the Russian Empire. His mother was a pianist and taught him and his older brother, Anton, to play the piano from an early age before finding respected teachers in Berlin from 1844 to 1846. He studied under Theodor Kullak and Siegfried Dehn. He made his debut in November of 1843 at age eight in one of his brother Anton's concerts. His style of playing the piano was more classical than Anton's fiery compositions. He studied medicine to avoid army conscription, graduating from Moscow University in 1855. He co-founded the Russian Musical Society in 1859 and was appointed director the next year. He composed a few pieces, including the piano solo "Tarentelle in G minor," in 1861. In 1862, his older brother Anton founded the Imperial Conservatory at St. Petersburg, which was the first music school in Russia, and this followed with him founding the Conservatorium of Music in Moscow in 1866. After his sudden death while in Paris from tuberculosis, Pyotr Tchaikovsky composed within a few months a piano piece, "Trio in A minor, Op 50," which was "dedicated to the memory of a great artist." The piece became very popular during the late 19th century. He had appointed Tchaikovsky in 1866 to the position of a professor of harmony at the Conservatorium of Music in Moscow. The two men developed a close relationship, which was publicized with ten years' worth of letters between the two. These letters have been digitalized and online. Tchaikovsky wrote "The Last Days of N. G. Rubinstein's Life," a letter to the editor of the newspaper "Moscow Register," which was published on March 24, 1881. After a well-attended Paris funeral, Nikolai Rubinstein's remains were repatriated to Russia for burial. In 1893, "Trio in A minor, Op 50" was used as part of Tchaikovsky's own funeral. There is no known relationship between the twentieth-century pianist Arthur Rubinstein and his Rubinstein family.