Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin, an outstanding Russian composer, is known for his works that reflect the principles of epic operatic dramaturgy. He was also a chemist, a doctor of medicine, and a member of the "Mighty Handful". Borodin was born on November 12, 1833, in St. Petersburg as the illegitimate son of the Georgian prince Luka Gedianov and a merchant woman. In childhood, he was a serf to his father, who granted him freedom in 1840 and acquired a house.

Alexander received home education, studying Latin and English. From a young age, he played the cello, piano, and flute. In 1847, he wrote his first composition, which has not survived to this day.

From the age of ten, Borodin was fascinated by chemistry. Due to his "illegitimate" origins, he could not enter university, but thanks to his mother, who enrolled him in the merchant class, he graduated from gymnasium and continued his studies at a higher educational institution. In 1850, he received his diploma and became a free listener at the Medical-Surgical Academy of St. Petersburg.

In 1853, Borodin began working with chemist Nikolai Zinin while simultaneously composing romances and piano pieces, which Zinin disapproved of, believing it interfered with scientific work.

After graduating from the academy, Borodin worked as a resident physician and lectured on chemistry. In 1857, he passed the exam for the degree of Doctor of Medicine and defended his dissertation. That same year, he traveled to Soligalich to study the composition of mineral waters, which later led to the establishment of a health resort.

In 1856, he met Mussorgsky, and they began exchanging musical ideas. In 1857, Borodin traveled to Europe, where he worked as a translator and secretary to the ophthalmologist of the royal court. In 1859, he interned abroad to obtain the position of adjunct professor of chemistry and worked in laboratories in Italy and Germany for three years.

In 1860, Borodin attended a congress of chemists in Karlsruhe, and in 1861, he developed a method for obtaining brominated acids and discovered a reaction known as the Borodin-Hunsdicker reaction.

In 1862, he met Mily Balakirev and joined the "Mighty Handful". Borodin also contributed to the organization of the Higher Women's Medical Courses, taught chemistry, and edited the journal "Knowledge". His most famous opera, "Prince Igor", which he worked on for 18 years, remained unfinished and was completed after his death.

In 1863, Borodin married Yekaterina Protopopova. Due to his wife's poor health in the Petersburg climate, she often lived in Moscow. They spent the summer of 1865 in Austria, where Borodin wrote his first symphony.

In the last years of the composer's life, he suffered from heart pains. He passed away on February 27, 1887, in St. Petersburg during a costume party on Maslenitsa. He was buried at the Tikhvin Cemetery in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.