Leopold Stokowski
was born April 18, 1882 in Marylebone, an area of north-central London, as shown in the copy of his birth certificate below. His parents were Kopernick Stokowski (1862-1924) and Annie-Marion Moore. Kopernick Stokowski was a carpenter and cabinet maker who had also been born in Marylebone, London of a Polish father and Scottish mother, so Leopold Stokowski's father was half Scots 19. Leopold Stokowski's mother Annie-Marion was of Irish lineage. Kopernick and Annie-Marion Stokowski later had two other children: Lydia Stokowski Fanshawe (1883-1911) 19 and Percy James Stokowski (1890-1978).

Trained originally in his native London under Walford Davies and Stanford, Leopold Stokowski made his debut as a conductor in Paris in 1908 and became principal conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 1909. He first conducted the Philadelphia Symphony in 1912, continuing his association with the orchestra for many years. He held leading positions with a number of other major orchestras, and had a series of international guest engagements.