Charles-Marie Jean Albert Widor (1844–1937) was a French organist, composer, and teacher. Widor was born on 24th February 1844 in Lyon to a family of organ-builders, and initially studied music there with his father, who was an organist himself. The French organ builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, reviver of the art of organ-building, was a friend of the Widor family: he arranged for the talented young organist to study in Brussels, with Jacques Lemmens for organ technique and with François-Joseph Fétis, director of the Brussels Conservatoire for composition.
