Born in Mountaud on May 12, 1842;
died in Paris on August 13, 1912

Jules Massenet was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, which include Manon (1884) and Werther (1892). Massenet also composed oratorios, ballets, orchestral works, incidental music, piano pieces, and songs.

A graduate of the Conservatoire de Paris and winner of the country's top musical prize, the Prix de Rome (1863), he soon earned a reputation for his operas. Massenet produced more than forty stage works, from opéra-comique to lyric dramas, oratorios, cantatas, and ballets, and was widely recognised as the leading composer of opera in France of the Belle Époque.

By the time of his death in 1912, Massenet had come to be regarded by many as somewhat old-fashioned, despite his best-known operas remaining popular in France and abroad. Later in the 20th century, however, his other works underwent a rediscovery, with many going on to enjoy fresh stagings and recordings.