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Clara Schumann, who lived from 1819 to 1896, was a remarkable woman. This conclusion was substantiated in a revised edition of Clara Schumann: The Artist and Woman by Reich (2001). Reich covered many aspects of Clara's life. Clara was a virtuosic concert pianist at a time when there were few female performing pianists. Most talented woman stopped their public appearances with marriage. She had married the great composer Robert Schumann (1810 -1856) one day before her 21st birthday and remained his main support until his death. She was the mother of his 8 children. She composed her own works. She was a sought after and an inspiring teacher of many of the younger pianists of her day as well as life-long friends with such greats as Chopin, Brahms, and Mendelssohn, all of whom recognized her wonderful artistry.
Clara's many impressive accomplishments sound like she may have lived an idyllic life. However, she experienced many difficulties. As a child prodigy, she was under her Father's dominance until her marriage to Robert Schumann against her Father's will. Her Father was a renown teacher of piano, and he taught her from an early age, as well as structured her daily life around her practice. He regarded Clara's achievements as his own, and she was grateful to him. However after having fallen in love with Schumann, she was caught between her loyalties to both men. She painfully chose Robert, much to the consternation of her Father. Her husband's genius was understood by her but remained lost on the general public for some time. Nevertheless she kept performing his work on the concert stage. She was the financial support for husband and children. She kept playing in public throughout her pregnancies and throughout her husband's many emotional breakdowns until his final hospitalization and death, most likely from syphilis. Five of her children died before her. Her son Ferdinand was hospitalized in 1887, and then Clara took over the support of his six children. Her final public concert was in 1891 before her stroke and death in 1896.
In spite of the many tragedies in her life, she still made the many accomplishments included in the first paragraph. Reich (2001) concluded her well-documented biography by saying that she imparted to her students the same values she embodied as a great artist. She said, "Her teaching style, infused by her resolute and determined spirit, combined her high ideals and scrupulous attention to details, her emphasis on expression and tone, her insistence that technique be cultivated to serve the music, and her demand that the performer honor, above all, the composer--- the creator. This was her legacy to the future" (p. 288).
Reference: Reich, N. B. (Revised edition 2001). Clara Schumann: The Artist and the Woman . Cornell University Press.