Frederic Francois Chopin (Polish: Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, sometimes Szopen; French: Frédéric François Chopin; surname pronounced /ˈʃoʊpæn/ in English; French pronunciation: [ʃɔpɛ̃]; 1 March 1810[1] – 17 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He was one of the great masters of Romantic music. Chopin was born in the village of Żelazowa Wola, in the Duchy of Warsaw, to a French-expatriate father and Polish mother and was regarded as a child-prodigy pianist.