Shortly after the death of Giuseppe Tartini, the greatest violinist of his era, came the birth of Niccolo Paganini, possibly the greatest violinist of all time. In Italy he was known as the "wonder-child" when he was 13 years old. Thirty years later, he had reached legendary status across Europe.
As a child in Genoa, Niccolo's father forced him to learn the violin at a very early age. His father dreamt that someday, Niccolo's violin play would make him wealthy. His father savagely would not let Niccolo rest or play; he was constantly practicing. The relentless lessons and practicing led to rapid progress. He composed his first sonata at the age of eight and played at local church functions. By the age of 15 the "wonder-child" had taken his concerts on tour across Italy. At the age of 16, he had earned enough money to escape from his father and live independantly.
Paganini's newly found independence led him down a similar path of excessive womanizing and gambling that would later befall Robert Johnson and Tommy Johnson. He frequently gambled away all of his wages, sometimes amassing so much debt that he would have to pawn off his violin. In one case, he had pawned his violin the night before a performance and had to borrow that of a friend's. When he nearly pawned his friend's violin to gamble, he began to come to his senses.
Paganini soon set off on his world tour. He gave incredible concerts across Europe tempered by long periods of utter disappearance. His ailing health forced him to take long respites during his exhausting tours. He pressed on, despite his health, and amassed a fortune from his concerts. He invested all of his wealth into a casino which would bear his name. His casino was a complete failure and the loss of his wealth seemed to aggravate his fickle health. Paganini became violently ill, and died in May of 1840.