Mykola Lysenko, Ukrainian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1912)
Mykola Vitaliyovych Lysenko (Ukrainian: Мико́ла Віта́лійович Ли́сенко; 22 March 1842 – 6 November 1912) was a Ukrainian composer, pianist, conductor and ethnomusicologist of the late Romantic period. In his time he was the central figure of Ukrainian music, with an oeuvre that includes operas, art songs, choral works, orchestral and chamber pieces, and a wide variety of solo piano music. He is often credited with founding a national music tradition during the Ukrainian national revival, in the vein of contemporaries such as Grieg in Norway, The Five in Russia as well as Smetana and Dvořák in what is now the Czech Republic.By studying and drawing from Ukrainian folk music, promoting the use of the Ukrainian language, and separating himself from Russian culture, his compositions form what many consider the quintessential essence of Ukrainian music. This is demonstrated best in his epic opera Taras Bulba on the novella of the same name by Nikolai Gogol, in which the grandeur, complexity and use of Ukrainian prevented its staging until after Lysenko's lifetime. His musical setting of a patriotic poem by Oleksandr Konysky, known as the "Prayer for Ukraine", has become the country's spiritual anthem.

To promote and cultivate Ukrainian culture, Lysenko set works by many Ukrainian poets, especially Taras Shevchenko, who he was particularly devoted to. Lysenko had a profound influence on later Ukrainian composers, including Stanyslav Lyudkevych, Alexander Koshetz, Kyrylo Stetsenko, Yakiv Stepovy, and mostly importantly, Mykola Leontovych. He is the namesake of the Mykola Lysenko International Music Competition and the Lysenko music school, which is now the Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Cinema and Television University. Despite his immense renown in Ukraine, Lysenko remains relatively unknown outside of his home country.