People lie about their birthdays all the time, usually to make themselves appear younger. In the case of Frédéric Chopin, he may have bought himself a week.

It is widely believed – including by his mother and himself – that Chopin was born on March 1, 1810. However, his baptismal certificate, filled out on April 23, gives February 22 as the date. The Chopin Society UK, in defiance of the composer and his family, is inclined to go with the latter.

Was there a conspiracy at work? Do we have ourselves a 19th century precursor of the “birther movement?”

You can read more about the Chopin birthday controversy here:

http://jackgibbons.blogspot.com/2010/03/chopins-birthday.html

Or you can simply join me today to enjoy a sampling of his music, between 4 and 7 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

PHOTO: Chopin, not looking a day older than 207