Born November 29, 1797 in Bergamo, Lombardy.

A leading composer of bel canto opera. Donizetti wrote 75 operas, thirty-one of which were written in just twelve years.

Donizetti was a success with the public but had to earn his fame with the critics. He composed Anna Bolena and earned his fame when it opened in Milan in 1838.

Donizetti`s most famous work is Lucia Di Lammermoor, and some of his other famous works are Don Pasqulae, L`elisir D`amore, Lucezia Borga, La Fille Du Regiment. Donizetti also composed the well known choral piece, The Ave Maria.

Donizetti lost his wife to cholera within one year after his parents died. Insanity overtook him and he was institutionalized in 1845 and died soon after in 1848.