Karl Davydov

Karl Juljewitsch Davydov (Russian: Карл Юльевич Давыдов), (15 March [O.S. 3 March] 1838 - 26 February [O.S. 14 February] 1889) was a Russian cellist of great renown during his time, and described by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as the "tsar of cellists". In his youth he studied mathematics at St. Petersburg University, and then pursued a career as a composer, studying with Moritz Hauptmann at the Leipzig Conservatory. He became a full-time cellist in 1850 while continuing to compose in his spare time.