Agifted pianist and composer who was the older sister of another famous composer, was considered to be one of the most important female musicians of the early romantic era

Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel

Explanation:

    Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel (1805-1847) was an unforgettable musician, an excellent pianist, and an intellectually superior woman. "She is small, almost fragile, but the fire that burns in her eyes reveals extraordinary energy. As a composer, she is exceptionally gifted."

    Despite these complimentary words from composer Charles Gounod, the name Fanny Hensel sounds strange to most audiences. The problem was that she had an unforgivable attribute to nineteenth-century society, and this devalued her a priori work: she was a woman.

    Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel was a nineteenth-century woman, and although she belonged to a wealthy family of bankers, she had to use the name of her famous brother, Felix Mendelssohn, to be able to publish some works. She benefited from the same musical education as her brother, and like this one, she showed a lot of skill and early on she started composing. Nevertheless, he suffered prejudice within his home, and his father only tolerated his daughter's artistic leanings without giving her any incentive. In a letter, talking about Felix, he advised his daughter: "Music will perhaps become your profession, while for you it can and should be just an ornament. You must prepare more earnestly and earnestly for your royal calling, the only one for a young woman - being a housewife ". Felix, by contrast, has always encouraged her, although she has published her sister's works on her behalf. In 1829 Fanny married the painter Wilhelm Hensel, who supported her in her work, but that did not put her in the place she deserved.