Romantic composer Sergei Rachmaninov ("Sergey" and "Rachmaninoff" are common variant spellings) was born in Novgorod, Russian in 1873. The Russian Revolution led him to leave Russia and he settled in the United States. Rachmaninoff determined to become a superior pianist, thus supporting his family, which had lost all its possessions during the flight from Communism. He died in Los Angeles in 1943.