Nadezhda Filaretovna von Meck (1831-1894), Russian business woman who became an influential patron of the arts, especially music and is best known for her artistic relationship with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, supporting him financially for thirteen years, so that he could devote himself full-time to composition, while stipulating that they were never to meet. Tchaikovsky dedicated his Symphony No. 4 in F minor to her. 1860 Supplied By: SCRSS - Society for Co-operation in Russian & Soviet Studies