Full Name: Wilhelm Richard Wagner
Nickname: Richard Wagner

Father: Carl Friedrich Wagner
Mother: Johanna Rosine
Wife: Minna Planer (m. 1836–1866)
Wife: Cosima Wagner (m. 1870–1883)
Son: Siegfried Wagner (1869-1930)

Date of Birth: 22 May 1813
Birth Place: Leipzig, Germany
Date of Death: 13 February 1883
Death Place: Venice, Italy
Cause of Death: Heart Failure

Remains: Buried, Wagner Estate, Bayreuth, Germany
Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Education: Pastor Wetzel's School, University of Leipzig
Occupation: Composer, Director
Nationality: Germany

Achievements: Highly applauded for work of four operas -Ring Cycle and Ride of the Valkyries

The German operatic composer, theatre director, polemicist and conductor Wilhelm Richard Wagner (22 May 1813 – 13 February 1883) was the most important seminal figure in 19th-century music, criticism and polemical writing. He could be additionally a new suspect number as a consequence of his hostile, anti-semitic articles, in addition, to simply because a number of his new music in addition to extraordinary subjects were appropriated by means of Adolf Hitler along with the Nazis during World War II.

Childhood & Early Life: Wilhelm Richard Wagner on 22 May 1813 in Leipzig, Germany. His father, Carl Friedrich Wagner was a clerk in the Leipzig police service and his mother was named Johanna Rosine. His father died 6 months later of his birth and his mother remarried his father's friend Ludwig Geyer. In 1820, Wagner was admitted to Pastor Wetzel's school at Possendorf and learned a little piano instruction from his Latin teacher. At the age of 11, he wrote his first drama and he was writing musical compositions within 16 years old. In 1831, Wagner attended Leipzig University and his first symphony was performed two years later in 1833. He was inspired by Ludwig van Beethoven which he called "that mystic source of my highest ecstacies." In 1834, he returned to Leipzig and wrote Das Liebesverbot, based on Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. A few days later, Wagner joined the Würzburg Theater as chorus master and wrote his first opera Die Feen.

Personal Life: In 1834, Wagner fell in love with the singer and actress Minna Planer. They married on 24 November 1836 in Tragheim Church. In May 1837, Minna left Wagner for another man. In June 1837, Wagner moved to the Russian Empire, where he became music director of the local opera. On 25 August 1870, Richard Wagner remarried his 24 years younger Cosima Wagner who was the daughter of Countess Marie d'Agoult and ex-wife of Franz Liszt. Wagner and Cosima had two children together before finally marrying in 1870.

Later Life & Death: In 1842, Wagner moved to Dresden and on 20 October, Rienzi was staged successfully. In April 1849, once King Frederick Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus II of Saxony discarded a brand new constitution, an intensive discontent unfold in Dresden. Wagner conjointly had a petite supporting role within the could struggle. As warrants started issue against the revolutionaries, Wagner had no alternative however to escape, first to Paris and then to Zurich. His exile life continued for the next 12 years! In 1862, Wagner was finally able to return to Germany. King Ludwig II invited Wagner to settle in Bavaria and supported him financially. From 1869 to 1870, his operas The Ring Cycle, Das Rheingold and Die Walküre were presented in Munich. Wagner died on February 13, 1883, of a heart attack and was buried at Wagner Estate in Bayreuth, Germany.