Bériot, Charles Auguste de (1802-1870)

Bériot, Charles Auguste de

VIOLINIST (BELGIUM)

BORN 20 Feb 1802, Leuven, Vlaams Brabant - DIED 8 Apr 1870, Brussel
GRAVE LOCATION Brussel: Cimetière de Laeken, Parvis Notre Dame (Perk 25, weg 5, concessie 450)

Charles Auguste de Bériot was born into a noble family but he was orphaned when he was nine years old. The music teacher Jean-François Tiby (1772-1844) became his custodian and became his violin teacher as well. In 1821 Bériot went to Paris where he studied under Pierre Baillot for a brief time. After king William I of the Netherlands refused him a subsidy he taught and performed in Paris. In 1824 he toured in England. In 1826 be was appointed violinist to Charles X of France. In 1827 he became court violinist in the Netherlands.

He lost his position after the Belgian uprising of 1830. Around that time he met the singer Maria Malibran. She was married to a banker, but soon they lived together and their son Charles-Wilfrid de Bériot was born in 1833. After Maria's marriage was annulled, they married in 1836, but she died in the same year from the complications of a fall from a horse. In 1840 he married Marie Huber from Vienna. She was the adopted daughter of Prince Moritz von Dietrichstein.

In 1842 Baillot died and Bériot was offered his job at the Conservatory in Paris. He refused and joined the Conservatory in Brussels instread. His failing eyesight forced him to give up his position in 1852. A paralysis of his left arm ended his career as a violinist in 1866. His left arm was amputated to relieve pain. He died in 1870 in Brussels.

Family
• Wife: Malibran, Maria (1836-1836)

Related persons
• was a friend of Thalberg, Sigismund

Events