Vera Timanova was a Russian pianist, born in Ufa on February 18, 1855. She received her early musical education at home, and the pianist Ludwig Novitsky helped develop her talent. At age nine, she gave her first concert, performing works by Chopin and Kalkbrenner and a concerto by Mozart.
Timanova later studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with Anton Rubinstein and P. L. Peterson, with financial support from the Ufa patron I. F. Bazilevsky. She continued her training in Berlin with Carl Tausig for three years, then spent time in Weimar, where she became one of Franz Liszt’s favorite students.
After successful concerts abroad, Timanova returned to St. Petersburg and pursued a career as a performer and teacher. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Alexander Borodin admired her playing. Tchaikovsky dedicated his Humorous Scherzo to her, and Eduard Nápravník dedicated his Russian Fantasy for piano and orchestra (1881); Timanova gave its successful premiere.
From the early 1900s, she performed and taught in St. Petersburg, later known as Petrograd, including at Yevgeny Rapgof’s courses, the Second and Third Music Technical Schools, and the Institute of Musical Education. She received the title Hero of Labour in 1926. In 1937, illness left her unable to walk. Timanova died in Leningrad on February 22, 1942.