Rubinstein, Anton Gregor, a Polish musician; born near Jassy, Rumania, Nov. 28, 1829. He was trained to music in Moscow by his mother and a master. Liszt heard him, "an infant prodigy," play in Paris in 1841, recognized his genius, and encouraged him to play in other cities. After some further "touring" he gave himself to serious study in Berlin and Vienna, and in 1848 settled in St. Petersburg as teacher of music. At St. Petersburg he succeeded in getting a musical conservatory founded (1862) and became its director. But his concert tours engrossed a good deal of his time, and in 1867 he resigned the directorship of the conservatory. In 1872 he went to the United States and had an enthusiastic reception. He ended his concert tours in 1886. He was induced in the following year to resume the directorship of the conservatory at St. Petersburg. From the Russian government he received a patent of nobility and other honors.
He was a strongly pronounced opponent of the principles of Wagner. As a pianist, he held the highest rank, being usually reckoned the greatest since Liszt. He ceased playing in public some time before his death, which occured in Peterhof, Russia, Nov. 20, 1894.
Entry from Everybody's Cyclopedia,
1912.