Jane Wilhelmina Stirling

Jane Wilhelmina Stirling (1804–1859) – Scottish pupil of Fryderyk Chopin and admirer of the composer and his music. Chopin dedicated to her the Nocturnes, Op. 55. During the last years of Chopin’s life, Jane Stirling gave him considerable support, including discreet financial assistance, and organised his ill-fated sojourn in the UK in 1848. After the composer’s death, she bought up most of his personal effects, including his Pleyel piano, a considerable amount of which she then sent to his loved ones in Warsaw. Edouard Ganche made use of her lesson copies of Chopin’s compositions containing his annotations – almost the entire oeuvre – when preparing his edition of the complete works. Stirling, befriended of Thomas Tellefsen, took lessons from him and supported his pianistic career.