Franco-Venezuelan composer Reynaldo Hahn was BOTD in 1874. Born in Caracas to a wealthy industrialist family in Caracas, his family moved to Paris when he was a child. A musical prodigy, he began performing at the age of six, and studied music at the Conservatoire de Paris, studying with Jules Massenet, who became a lifelong mentor and friend, and later with Camille Saint-Saëns. Following the success of his song Si mes vers avaient des ailes (If my verses had wings), which was printed in Le Figaro newspaper, he became a star of Parisian high society, befriending actress Sarah Bernhardt, writers Paul Verlaine and Stéphane Mallarmé and composer Alphonse Daudet. He had an intense two-year relationship with the writer Marcel Proust, which evolved into a lifelong friendship. Hahn is credited with suggesting music to Proust that became key themes in his novel À la recherche de temps perdu (In Search of Lost Time), and is thought to have inspired the character of Morel, a young bisexual violinist. A prolific composer, he wrote operas, chamber pieces and songs, and developed a successful second career as an orchestral conductor. In 1912, he was commissioned by Ballet Russes manager Sergei Diaghilev to compose the score for Le Dieu bleu (The Blue God), from a libretto by Jean Cocteau, with choreography by Mikhail Fokine and set and costumes by Léon Bakst, starring the company’s superstar dancer Vaslav Nijinsky. At the outbreak of World War One, he volunteered for the French Army, continuing to compose music while working near the front lines of battle. After the war, he was awarded the Croix de guerre for bravery, and was appointed to the Légion d’honneur. In 1919, he became a professor at the École Normale de Musique de Paris. He formed a relationship with the tenor Guy Ferrant, which lasted until his death. He had a huge success with his 1923 operetta Ciboulette, while his musical comedy Mozart had successful performances in Paris, London and New York. based on the composer’s early life. Following the Nazi occupation of France in 1940, he moved to Monte Carlo to avoid anti-Semitic persecution. He returned in Paris in 1945, and appointed director of the Paris Opéra, despite having never had his works performed there. He died in 1947 aged 72, and was buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, near Proust’s gravestone.