Ethelbert Nevin
He started his career giving piano lessons.  When he had earned enough money he went to Berlin where he had lessons from Karl Klindworth, who was a good teacher for him.  He showed Nevin how important it was to have a good general knowledge, and not just to spend hours and hours practising the piano.  This helped Nevin, who had good tastes in literature and he chose some good poems to make into songs.