born March 8, 1857/58, Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
died Aug. 9, 1919, Montecatini Terme, near Florence, Italy
Italian composer.
After attending Naples Conservatory and earning a doctorate in literature, he toured as a pianist while writing operas. His first, Chatterton (1878), was produced with little success, but its libretto attracted the interest of the publisher Giulio Ricordi. Giacomo Puccini 's rejection of Leoncavallo's help with Manon Lescaut and Ricordi's rejection of his own projects caused him in anger to write the verismo one-act opera Pagliacci (1892) for Ricordi's rival. Though he wrote several other operas and operettas, Pagliacci was his only enduring success.