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The stamp above was issued in 2013 to commemorate the bicentenary of the birth of Giuseppe Verdi, who was born on October 10, 1813. The stamp was part of a two-stamp issue honoring the 200th birthdays of contemporary nineteenth century composers Verdi and Richard Wagner.
 
Giuseppe Verdi was born in village of Le Roncole in the province of Parma in Italy. His family was of "moderate means", and Verdi began his musical journey when he received a spinet piano from his parents. His musical education was supported by a local patron, Antonio Barezzi, who would later be his father-in-law.
 
In time, Verdi would come to be one of the dominant composers on the Italian opera scene. His predecessors, including Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini, were major influencers on his development.
 
His early operas demonstrated solidarity with the Risorgimento movement, which sought the unification of Italy (he also participated briefly in politics as an elected official). One of his early operas, Nabucco (from 1842), contained a chorus reflecting the spirit of the unification movement.
 
Verdi's works remain extremely popular to this day, particularly the three operas labeled as the "three peaks" of his middle period: Rigoletto (1851), Il trovatore (1853) and La traviata (also from 1853).
 
An intensely private person, Verdi, while successful, reduced his activities in the 1860's. He emerged again in 1871 with the opera Aida, which was followed by three additional masterpieces marking his later career: Requiem (1874), Otello (1887) and Falstaff (1893).
 
Verdi was honored in one other stamp set issued by Vatican City. The three-stamp set below was issued in 2001 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his death in 1901:
 
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<tr><td colspan=4 align='center'>100th Anniversary of the Death of Giuseppe Verdi Scott 1182-1184 (2001)
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References: 
 
Wikipedia.com, "<a href= 
'https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Verdi'>Giuseppe Verdi</a>"
 
UFN, May 22, 2001, "<a href=
'https://vaticanstamps.org/UFN/images/2001-2-04-1.jpg'>100th Anniversary of the Death of Giuseppe Verdi</a>"
 
UFN, August 30, 2013, "<a href=
'https://vaticanstamps.org/UFN/images/2013-2-12-1.jpg'>Bicentenary of the Birth of Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner</a>"
 
Vatican Philatelic Society website (www.vaticanstamps.org), "Stamp Database Search"

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