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Camille Saint-Saëns (9 October 1835 – 16 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic era. He was a musical prodigy, making his concert debut at the age of ten, and was still performing nearly seven decades later, giving what he intended to be his farewell concert as a pianist in Paris in 1913. Saint-Saëns's retirement was soon in abeyance as a result of World War I, during which he gave many performances in France and elsewhere, raising money for war charities. In November 1921, he gave a recital before a large invited audience, where it was remarked that his playing was as vivid and precise as ever; but he died unexpectedly of a heart attack the following month while in Algiers. This photograph of Saint-Saëns by Pierre Petit was taken in 1900.Photograph credit: Pierre Petit; restored by Adam Cuerden