Giuseppe Verdi was born on October 10, 1813, in the hamlet of Le Roncole in the Duchy of Parma. Rising from a humble innkeeper's family, he became the dominant composer of Italian opera in the 19th century, writing masterpieces including Rigoletto, La Traviata, and Aida, and his music became entwined with the Italian unification movement itself.
Verdi's birth record actually lists the date as October 9 or 10 depending on the source, since baptismal registers of the era counted days from sunset, but October 10 is the date traditionally celebrated. Born to a tavern keeper and a spinner in a tiny village then under French administration during the Napoleonic Wars, he showed early musical talent on a battered spinet his father bought him.
His career was marked by devastating personal tragedy, he lost his wife and two young children within a few years early in his career, followed by a string of professional triumphs that made him a national icon. Operas like Nabucco resonated so strongly with Italian audiences yearning for unification that the chorus 'Va, pensiero' became an unofficial anthem of the Risorgimento; crowds reportedly chanted 'Viva VERDI' as a coded acronym for 'Vittorio Emanuele Re D'Italia.'
By the time he died in 1901, Verdi had redefined opera as a vehicle for both intimate human drama and national feeling. Milan shut down for his funeral procession, and La Scala still treats his works as its beating heart.