Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin, Russian physician and composer has died, he was 53 years old. Borodin was born in Saint Petersburg, the illegitimate son of a Georgian Prince, Luka Gedevanishvili, who had him registered instead as the son of one of his serfs. As a boy he received a good education, including piano lessons, but he was eventually to earn a doctorate in medicine and to pursue a career in the decidedly non-musical field of chemistry (just as his comrade César Cui would do in the field of military fortifications). In his profession Borodin gained great respect, being particularly noted for his work on aldehydes (in 1872 he discovered the "aldol-reaction/-condensation" and the Borodin reaction). As a result of his work in chemistry and difficulties in his home-life, Borodin was not as prolific in writing music as many of his contemporaries were -- hence his own description of himself as a "Sunday composer." He died during a festive ball, where he was participating with much vigor and suddenly collapsed from heart failure. He was interred in Tikhvin Cemetery at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, in St. Petersburg, Russia.