born Nov. 3, 1801, Catania, Sicily
died Sept. 23, 1835, Puteaux, France
Italian composer.
Born into a musical family, he was educated at the Naples Conservatory. He wrote his first opera at age 24 and went on to complete nine more before his death at age 33. The most famous are The Pirate (1827), The Capulets and the Montagues (1830), The Sleepwalker (1831), Norma (1831), and The Puritans (1835). His works, which rely strongly on beautiful vocal melody ( bel canto ), rivaled those of his contemporaries Gioacchino Rossini and Gaetano Donizetti in popularity.