Claude Debussy (August 22, 1862 – March 25, 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer and was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Born to a family of modest means and little cultural involvement, Debussy showed enough musical talent to be admitted at the age of ten to France's leading music college, the Conservatoire de Paris. He originally studied the piano, but found his vocation in innovative composition, despite the disapproval of the Conservatoire's conservative professors. He took many years to develop his mature style and was nearly 40 when he achieved international fame in 1902 with the only opera he completed, Pelléas et Mélisande.

Throughout his career, Debussy wrote mélodies based on a wide variety of poetry, including his own. He was greatly influenced by the Symbolist poetic movement of the later 19th century. In his final years, he focused on chamber music, completing three of six planned sonatas for different combinations of instruments.

Debussy's works have strongly influenced a wide range of composers including Béla Bartók, Olivier Messiaen, George Benjamin, and the jazz pianist and composer Bill Evans. Debussy died at his home in Paris at the age of 55 after a composing career of a little more than 30 years.

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