Giacomo Puccini was born in Lucca on December 22, 1858, the fifth of seven children. He descended from a long line of musicians, conductors and composers. At 6 he lost his father, Michele, from whom he inherited his position as choirmaster and organist at San Martino Church, and also music teacher at Collegio Ponziano. He spent his childhood between Lucca and Celle: he had a rebel attitude, which made his mother Albina very worried about him. When he was 9, he entered the seminar and became a chorister and organist in the Cathedral of Lucca.

His first compositions were thus music for organ and sacred functions, but the "cowl" did not fit him, who preferred playing the piano in the taverns around Lucca. In 1876 he walked from Lucca to Pisa in order to see the latest opera by Verdi, Aida. He was entranced by the opera and decided to attend the conservatory. At the end of 1880 he got diploma at the Pacini Music School in Lucca, for which he composed the Messa a 4 voci con orchestra, and he moved to Milan to study at the Milan Conservatory under the guidance of Bazzini and Ponchielli. Despite the scholarship he was granted by Queen Margherita and the financial help of his uncle, the legal attorney Nicolao Cerù, those were years of extreme poverty, but also of happy adventures with his classmates, as Puccini reminded later: "at five I have a thrifty meal with soup, then I light up a cigar and I go to the Galleria..". For some months he was also roommate of Pietro Mascagni.

His stay in Milan was fundamental for the young Puccini, as he got in contact with the Milan musical world and became friend of Arrigo Boito, one of the most important members of the Scapigliatura. In 1883 he ended his studies with an instrumental piece, the Capriccio Sinfonico, which first revealed his great talent as composer. On 1st April, 1883, the Edoardo Sonzogno publishing firm advertised in its journal "Teatro Illustrato" a competition for a one-act opera by a young Italian composer. Puccini composed and presented Le Willis (which later became Le Villi), but his work was not appreciated and he lost the competition. Nevertheless the opera was staged at Teatro Dal Verme in Milan on 31st May, 1884 and enjoyed an extraordinary success. On Corriere della Sera the journalist Gramola called Puccini "the composer Italy had been waited for". Thanks to that first performance's triumph, the publisher Giulio Ricordi commissioned Puccini a second opera, Edgar. The opera’s first performance at La Scala in Milan on 21st April, 1889, was unsuccessful, but the publisher went on believing in Puccini’s talent. Finally with Manon Lescaut, first staged at Teatro Regio in Turin on 1st Februar, 1893, Puccini gained success, fame and wealth.

In 1885 he met in Lucca Elvira Bonturi, married to Puccini's friend Gemignani; the couple had two children, Renato and Fosca. Elvira was Puccini's greatest love: in 1886 she left her husband and followed Puccini to Milan with her small daughter. They moved then to Monza, where on 23rd December Elvira gave birth to Puccini's son, Antonio. Despite their financial problems, Puccini did not abandon his projects and Elvira started working at Fratelli Bocconi. In 1891 the family moved to Torre del Lago and in 1904, following Gemignani's death, Puccini and Elvira got married.

On the quiet shores of Massaciuccoli Lake Puccini composed most of his operas: La Bohème (Teatro Regio, Turin, 1st Februar, 1896), Tosca (Teatro Costanzi, Rome, 14th January, 1900) Madama Butterfly (La Scala, Milan, 17th February, 1904). The lake allowed Puccini to cultivate his great love for hunting and to meet friends and artists, with whom he founded the "Club La Bohème".

Puccini did always play an active role in the production of his operas and in the selection of performers, conductors and venues. His presence at rehearsals and performances aroused the interest of the audience and improved his worldwide fame. He travelled through Europe and America in order to follow his creations: La Fanciulla del West (Metropolitan Opera House, New York, 10th December, 1910), La Rondine (Opéra de Monte Carlo, 27th March, 1917), the so-called Trittico, that is Il tabarro, Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi (Metropolitan Opera House, New York, 14th December, 1918).

In 1920 he started working on Turandot, based on a comedy by Carlo Gozzi. In autumn 1924, when only the final part of the last act was missing in order to complete the opera, his health conditions worsened due to a throat tumour. Puccini had to interrupt his work and to undergo a surgical operation. He died in a clinic in Brussels on 24th November, 1924. He was first buried in Milan, but in 1926 his son Antonio made his mortal remains be transferred to a small chapel in the Puccinis' villa in Torre del Lago.

Turandot was completed by Franco Alfano, who based the finale on the drafts Puccini had taken with him to Brussels. The first posthumous performance at La Scala in Milan on 25th April, 1925, was directed by Arturo Toscanini, who suspended the opera where Puccini had been forced to interrupt his work.