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 Hungarian and Austrian composer, one of the most famous creators of the new Viennese operetta. His most famous work is the operetta "The Merry Widow".His uncle held a leading position as a musician in the city. F. Lehar played the violin in an orchestra led by his uncle in the Moravian resort of Bad Ulersdorf and began studying at the Prague Conservatory when he was only 12 years old. in 1888 took a place as a violinist at the Barmen-Elberfeld Theater in the Rhineland. Called up for military service, he played music together with his father and in 1890. was appointed the head of the music band of the 25th infantry regiment in Lučenets and in 1894 - marines in Pula. He had briefly left the service when his opera Cuckoo was about to premiere in Leipzig, but after the opera failed, he returned to serve in the regiment in Trieste. After his father's death, he got a post in Budapest and in 1899 he was appointed the leader of the 26th regiment's music group, which is why he moved to Vienna.In Vienna, F. Lehar achieved success with the waltzes "Asclepius" and "Gold and Silver". in 1902 he quit the army, worked as a conductor at the summer theater in Prater and then at the theater in Vienna. The first operettas by F. Lehar were performed in this and the Karolis Theater. in 1905 the operetta "The Merry Widow" (Die lustige Witwe) was an incredible success. It was the most successful operetta in history and sparked a new wave of popularity for Viennese operettas abroad. The following operetta Der Mann mit den drei Frauen (Der Mann mit den drei Frauen, 1908) was not a success, but the subsequent Der Graf von Luxemburg (1909) and Gypsy Love (Zigeunerliebe, 1910) also received international acclaim. popularity. After that, F. Lehar tried to create works with more ambitious themes and more complex style, but they did not impress the audience. During the First World War, F. Lehar conducted the military bands. After the war, its popularity declined with the spread of various other genres of popular music from the United States. F. Lehar regained his international popularity after starting to collaborate with singer Richard Tauber. This was followed by the successful operettas "Caraitis" (Der Zarewitsch, 1927), "Frydrika" (Friederike, 1928) and the most popular of the late ones - "The Land of Smiles" (Das Land des Lächelns, 1929), which included the best-known song by F. Lehar with H. Tauberiu − Dein ist mein ganzes Herz (roughly "You are the refreshment of my heart").In the late years, F. Lehar was engaged in adapting his operetta music for motion pictures and created one major work for the theater "Giuditta", which was staged in 1934. At the Vienna State Opera with H. Tauber and Jarmila Novotna in the lead roles. The opera was broadcast on 120 radio stations. in 1935 F. Lehar established his own publishing company, Glocken Verlag, to take over the publishing rights of his works from the bankrupt former publisher. He bought the rights to his works with a notable exception - he failed to acquire the rights to "The Merry Widow". After Fascist Germany occupied Austria and during World War II, F. Lehar lived in Vienna and Bad Ischl. His situation was very fragile because his wife was Jewish and several of his close creative collaborators died in concentration camps. A. Hitler personally liked "The Merry Widow" and this probably protected F. Lehar from persecution. After the war, he began to be threatened with suspicions of collaboration with the fascists, he moved with his family to Zurich, Switzerland, where in 1947 his wife died. F. Lehar died in 1948. October 24 after returning to Bad Ischl, where he is buried. A museum named after F. Lehar was established in his villa in Bad Ischl