Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, better known as Frederic Chopin or simply Chopin, was one of the most important composers and pianists in history, leaving a great musical legacy at his young age, as he passed at 39 years old.
The virtuoso musician not only rubbed shoulders with Franz Liszt and Parisian aristocrats when he undertook a tour of Europe in 1831 but also suffered health problems. His life changed completely when he met George Sand, with whom he lived a love story full of ups and downs.
The love story between Chopin and George Sand
In 1837, Chopin became seriously ill with lung disease, and his then-fiancée, Maria Wodzińska, left him, so his friend Liszt did not hesitate to introduce him to George Sand, a French novelist and journalist considered one of the most popular writers in 19th-century Europe, who, because she used a male pseudonym and wore a very peculiar way of dressing, was not considered “feminine” at the time.
After meeting, Frederic Chopin and George Sand fell in love and began a relationship. In 1838, the couple spent three months in Mallorca, where Chopin completed his 23 preludes and was diagnosed with tuberculosis.
In 1839 the couple returned to Paris, and because George Sand disliked gender stereotypes, after caring for “Chip” or “Chopinsky” as she called him for a long time, she began to distance herself from him. Another point that fractured the relationship was because Chopin “meddled” in Sand’s displeasure that her daughter Solange married a man 14 years her senior.
They lasted 9 years and then broke up. Although during their relationship they loved each other very much, their love wore out, and for a clear sample of the writing Sand left in which he spoke about the last time they saw each other: “In March 1848 I went back to see him for a moment and shook his trembling, limp hand. I wanted to speak to him, but he ran away. In my turn, I could tell that he no longer loved me.”
In 1848 the musician toured the United Kingdom to revive both his career and his personal life, but on October 17, 1849, his illness finally defeated him.
Story originally published in Spanish in Cultura Colectiva
