Wilhelm Joseph von Wasielewski was a german violinist, conductor and writer on music. He was one of the first pupils at the Leipzig Conservatory, where his teachers were Mendelssohn, Hauptmann and David. In Düsseldorf (where he was close to the Schumanns), Bonn, Dresden and Sondershausen, he performed and wrote. He produced the first definitive biography of Schumann (1858) and valuable books on early music and instruments.