Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the modern province of Parma, to a family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the help of a local patron named Antonio Barezzi. April 10, 1813 – January 27, 1901; died at 87. Alive at the same time as Adolf Hitler, Albert Einstein, Karl Marx, Leo Tolstoy, and Vincent van Gogh. Wiki link