Claude Debussy was born as Achille-Claude Debussy. He has become recognizable over the years as one of the most notable and influential French musical composers that has ever lived. At the turn of the 20th century he was one of the most prominent figures in music and his contributions to the world of music are still enjoyed today. Debussy was born in 1862 in St. Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, France. His father was a salesman and a china shop owner. His mother was a seamstress. He was the oldest of five children born to the couple, and his childhood and growing up years were less than ideal. Some of the events Debussy never quite got over, nor did he talk about them. He was forced to join his mother, who was pregnant at the time as she left to to to his paternal aunt’s home in Cannes to escape the Franco-Prussian War.Through all of the bad experiences it was clear at a very early age to everyone that he was gifted musically. Thankfully the gift was recognized and when he was seven years
1862 22 August Achille-Claude Debussy born at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris. Delius, Klimt born; Halevy (63), Thoreau (45) die; First performances of Beatrice et Benedict (Berlioz), La forza del destino (Verdi); The Companies Act introduced. 1863 Cavafy, Mascagni, Edvard Munch , Pierne born; Delacroix (65), Alfred de Vigny (66), Thackeray (52) die; Renan’s La vie de Jesus published; First Salon des Refuses in Paris; Gounod’s Faust produced in London, Dublin and New York; First performances of Les troyens a Carthage (Berlioz), Les pecheurs de perles (Bizet); French troops occupy Mexico; First underground railway completed in London; Poles rebel against Russia. 1864 Richard Strauss born; Nathaniel Hawthorne (58), Meyerbeer (73) die; First performance of Mireille (Gounod); Civil war in Japan; Papal Syllabus of Errors. 1865 Dukas, Glazunov, Sibelius, W. B. Yeats born; Pierre Proudhon (56) dies; First performance of L’africaine (Meyerbeer), Tristan und Isolde (Wagner); End of American C