An Italian opera composer and a pioneer of the 'verismo' (realism) movement, which revolutionized the opera world at the end of the 19th century.
Born the son of a baker in Livorno, he studied at the Milan Conservatory but dropped out due to disagreements with his teachers.

He then lived in poverty in rural towns in Southern Italy, working as a piano teacher and conductor, but in 1890, his one-act opera, Cavalleria rusticana, submitted to a competition organized by a publisher, won first prize, catapulting him to international stardom overnight.

His greatest strength was a style that depicted the raw emotions of love and hatred and the rough daily lives of ordinary people, rather than myths or tales of royalty, using beautiful, passionate, and at times violently dramatic melodies. Throughout his life, he composed 15 operas, including Iris and L'amico Fritz, and in 1929, he was appointed music director of the prestigious La Scala in Milan.

However, the success of his debut work was so immense that, as he himself self-deprecatingly remarked, 'I was crowned before I became king,' he spent his entire life battling its overwhelming shadow.
In his later years, his reputation suffered due to his support for Mussolini's Fascist regime, and his life was filled with both glory and hardship.