Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Widely regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long line of composers, stemming from the late Baroque era. Though his early work was firmly rooted in traditional late-nineteenth-century Romantic Italian opera, it later developed in the realistic verismo style, of which he became one of the leading exponents. December 22, 1858 – November 29, 1924; died at 65. Alive at the same time as Adolf Hitler, Albert Einstein, Karl Marx, Leo Tolstoy, and Vincent van Gogh. Wiki link