Mieczysław Horszowski was born in 1892 in Lwów, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary (now Ukraine), and began piano training under his mother. At age seven, he studied with Theodor Leschetizky in Vienna. In 1901, Horszowski performed Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in Warsaw and toured as a child prodigy. He returned to performing after World War I, settling in Milan before emigrating to the United States during World War II. Notable performances include cycles of Beethoven's solo piano works (1954–1955) and Mozart's piano sonatas (1960). Horszowski recorded extensively for labels including His Master's Voice, Columbia, RCA, Vanguard, and Nonesuch. He taught at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Horszowski died in 1993, in Philadelphia at age 100.