Anton Rubinstein, Jewish Russian Musician, Orig. cabinet photo by photographer Wesenberg, St.Petersburg, 19th cen.
Size:16.5 x 11 cm. (6.5 x 4.3 inches)
Condition: some stains, stationery buttons holes
Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein (Russian: ????? ??????????? ??????????, romanized: Anton Grigoryevich Rubinshteyn; 28 November [O.S. 16 November] 1829 – 20 November [O.S. 8 November] 1894) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor who became a pivotal figure in Russian culture when he founded the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. He was the elder brother of Nikolai Rubinstein, who founded the Moscow Conservatory.
Rubinstein was born to Jewish parents in the village of Vikhvatinets in the Podolia Governorate, Russian Empire (now known as Ofatin?i in Transnistria, Republic of Moldova), on the Dniestr River, about 150 kilometres (93 mi) northwest of Odessa
Jacob Johann Wilhelm Wesenberg, a photographer, is mentioned in the directory for 1867 as the owner of a photographic studio in the Strubinsky house at the corner of Apraksin Lane and the embankment of the Fontanka River. Previously, Nikolai Tikhobrazov’s workshop operated in this house.
In 1879, he became the owner of Ivan Grinberg's photographic studio in Makarov's house on the corner of Voznesensky Prospekt and Srednyaya Meshchanskaya Street.
Wilhelm Wesenberg was one of many photographers who, in addition to working in a photographic studio, made money by producing reproductions of portraits of famous figures in politics, science and art, thereby making a significant contribution to the enlightenment and education of all levels of society. Most likely, similar publications were continued by his successor. In 1880, Heinrich Tolvanen became the new owner of the Wesenberg workshops.
Jacob Johann Wilhelm Wesenberg died on March 11, 1880. He was buried in St. Petersburg at the Smolensk Evangelical Cemetery.