Composer. Born in Metz, France. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, where he became a professor of composition in 1852. He became the director in 1871 and held that position until his death in 1896. Although he is not as well known today, Thomas was a major force in French music during the second half of the nineteenth century. He wrote twenty operas in his lifetime, and among his greatest successes are two that he composed in the 1860s, Mignon and Hamlet. He also composed cantatas, part-songs, and choral pieces.