Franz Lehár
(born Komáron, Hungary 30 April 1870; died Bad Ischl 24 October 1948)

The Austro-Hungarian composer and conductor Franz Lehár was the leading composer of operetta in the twentieth century, and responsible for giving the genre renewed vitality.

He wrote some 30 operettas, the most famous and enduring of which is The Merry Widow (Die lustige Witwe), which has achieved worldwide popularity.