This is a list of historical figures who have been characters in opera or operetta.
Historical accuracy in such works has often been subject to the imperatives of dramatic presentation. Consequently, in many cases: historical characters appear alongside fictional characters historical characters who never met, or whose lives did not even overlap, appear on stage together historical events depicted are transported to earlier or later times or to different places historical people are seen participating in entirely fictional events, or vice versa the actions of historical people are attributed to other persons
For the purposes of this list, Biblical characters are generally taken to be fictional, unless there is clear evidence of their historicity.
Operas appear in bold when the historical figure is also the title role.
Where a character appears in more than opera, the entries are sorted by composer.
List of historical figures
A
Abdisho IV Maron, Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church Hans Pfitzner: Palestrina (as Abdisu)
Peter Abelard, French priest, scholar, theologian Peter Tahourdin: Héloise and Abelard Charles Wilson: Héloise and Abelard
John Quincy Adams, American President Anthony Davis, Amistad Virgil Thomson: The Mother of Us All
Adelaide of Aquitaine, queen consort of France by marriage to Hugh Capet Gaetano Donizetti: Ugo, conte di Parigi
Gabriele Adorno, fifth Doge of Genoa Giuseppe Verdi: Simon Boccanegra
Flavius Aetius, Roman general Giuseppe Gazzaniga: Ezio George Frideric Handel: Ezio Gaetano Latilla: Ezio Giuseppe Verdi: Attila
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, German alchemist, writer Sergei Prokofiev: The Fiery Angel (as Agrippa of Nettesheim)
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, Roman statesman and general Samuel Barber: Antony and Cleopatra
Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, Roman consul (32 BC) Samuel Barber: Antony and Cleopatra (as Enobarbus)
Pharaoh Akhenaten of Egypt Philip Glass: Akhnaten
3rd Duke of Alba, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands Gaetano Donizetti, completed by Matteo Salvi: Le duc d'Albe Ernst Krenek: Karl V
Albert of Mainz, Elector and Archbishop of Mainz Paul Hindemith: Mathis der Maler (as Albrecht von Brandenburg)
Buzz Aldrin, American astronaut Jonathan Dove: Man on the Moon
Alexander the Great, King of Macedon Girolamo Abos: Alessandro nelle Indie George Frideric Handel: Alessandro George Frideric Handel: Poro José de Nebra: No todo indicio es verdad y Alexandro en Asia Giovanni Pacini: Alessandro nelle Indie (He appears in about 70 other operas set to the same text by Metastasio as used by Pacini, including one by Leonardo Vinci.)
Emperor Alexander Severus of Rome George Frideric Handel: Alessandro Severo
Tsar Alexander I of Russia Sergei Prokofiev: War and Peace (silent role)
Brigadier General Edward Porter Alexander, American military commander Philip Glass: Appomattox
Tsarina Alexandra of Russia, consort of Tsar Nicholas II Deborah Drattell: Nicholas and Alexandra
Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich of Russia, son of Peter the Great Franz Lehár: Der Zarewitsch
Saint Alexius of Rome Stefano Landi: Il Sant'Alessio (1631; the first opera written on an historical subject)
Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, husband of Lucrezia Borgia Gaetano Donizetti: Lucrezia Borgia
Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara Gaetano Donizetti: Torquato Tasso
King Alfonso XI of Castile Gaetano Donizetti: La favorite
King Alfred the Great, legendary Anglo-Saxon king Thomas Arne: Alfred Gaetano Donizetti: Alfredo il grande Antonín Dvořák: Alfred Friedrich von Flotow: Alfred der Große
Dante Alighieri: see Dante
Almanzor (Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir), de facto ruler of al-Andalus Giacomo Meyerbeer: L'esule di Granata (as Almanzor)
Pedro de Alvarado, Spanish conquistador Lorenzo Ferrero: La Conquista Roger Sessions: Montezuma
Amalasuntha, Queen of the Ostrogoths André Messager: Isoline (as La Reine Amalasonthe)
Anacreon, Greek lyric poet Luigi Cherubini: Anacréon Jean-Philippe Rameau: Anacréon (1754 version) Jean-Philippe Rameau: Anacréon (1757 version)
Jacob Johan Anckarström, Swedish military officer, assassin of Gustav III Daniel Auber: Gustave III Giuseppe Verdi: Un ballo in maschera
Tommaso Aniello: see Masaniello
Anne of Bavaria, Holy Roman Empress, Queen of Rome and Bavaria Ignaz Holzbauer: Günther von Schwarzburg
Queen Anne of Great Britain Friedrich von Flotow: Martha (silent role)
Queen Anne (Boleyn), second consort of Henry VIII of England Gaetano Donizetti: Anna Bolena Camille Saint-Saëns: Henry VIII
Queen Anne (Neville), consort of Richard III of England Giorgio Battistelli, Richard III (2004)Giorgio Battistelli: Richard III. Retrieved 11 December 2015
Saint Anthony the Great Bernice Johnson Reagon: The Temptation of Saint Anthony
Susan B. Anthony, American women's rights activist Virgil Thomson: The Mother of Us All
Antiochus I Soter, King of the Seleucid Empire Étienne Méhul: Stratonice Jean-Philippe Rameau: Les fêtes de Polymnie
Rodrigo Ponce de León, 4th Duke of Arcos, Spanish grandee, Viceroy of Naples Antônio Carlos Gomes: Salvator Rosa
Alice Arden, English murderer, and her husband/victim: Thomas Arden, English Mayor Alexander Goehr: Arden Must Die
Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, British socialite and sexual celebrity Thomas Adès: Powder Her Face
Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt, Finnish-Swedish diplomat, possible lover of Gustav III of Sweden Daniel Auber: Gustave III
Arminius, Germanic chieftain George Frideric Handel: Arminio
Edwin H. Armstrong, American radio pioneer, inventor of FM radio transmission Evan Hause: The Birth and Theft of Television
Artabanus of Persia, political figure Thomas Arne: Artaxerxes
King Artaxerxes I of Persia Girolamo Abos: Artaserse Thomas Arne: Artaxerxes Antonio Sacchini: Artaserse (He appears in over 40 other operas set to the same text from Metastasio's libretto Artaserse)
King Arthur, legendary king of Britain Isaac Albéniz: Merlin Grażyna Bacewicz: The Adventure of King Arthur Ernest Chausson: Le roi Arthus Henry Purcell: King Arthur Amadeu Vives i Roig: Artús Max Vogrich: King Arthur
Chester A. Arthur, American President Douglas Moore: The Ballad of Baby Doe
Ulrica Arfvidsson, Swedish fortune-teller Daniel Auber: Gustave III Giuseppe Verdi: Un ballo in maschera
Emanuele d'Astorga, Italian composer Johann Joseph Abert: Astorga
Atahualpa, Inca sovereign emperor Iain Hamilton: The Royal Hunt of the Sun
Attila the Hun Giuseppe Verdi: Attila
Atys, son of King Croesus of Lydia Reinhard Keiser: Croesus
Caesar Augustus, Roman Emperor Samuel Barber: Antony and Cleopatra (as Octavius Caesar)
Aurelian, Emperor of Rome Gioachino Rossini: Aureliano in Palmira
Pharaoh Ay of Egypt Philip Glass: Akhnaten
B
Francis Bacon, Irish painter Stephen Crowe: The Francis Bacon Opera
Cardinal Maffeo Barberini: see Pope Urban VIII
Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly, Russian prince and general Sergei Prokofiev: War and Peace
Brigitte Bardot, French actress Igor Wakhévitch: Être Dieu: opéra-poème, audiovisuel et cathare en six parties (a creation of Salvador Dalí; the performer plays Bardot impersonating an artichoke)
Pyotr Fyodorovich Basmanov, Russian boyar Antonín Dvořák: Dimitrij
Daisy Bates, Irish-Australian indigenous welfare worker and anthropologist Margaret Sutherland: The Young Kabbarli
Bayezid I "The Thunderbolt", Ottoman Sultan George Frideric Handel: Tamerlano (as Bajazet) Antonio Vivaldi: Bajazet
Pierre Beaumarchais, French playwright John Corigliano: The Ghosts of Versailles
Saint Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury Ildebrando Pizzetti: Assassinio nella cattedrale
Belisarius, Byzantine general Gaetano Donizetti: Belisario
Augustin Daniel Belliard, French general Sergei Prokofiev: War and Peace
Belshazzar, Prince of Babylon Gioachino Rossini: Ciro in Babilonia (as Baldassare, King of Assyria)
Olga Benário Prestes, German-Brazilian communist militant Jorge Antunes: Olga
Levin August, Count von Bennigsen, German general Sergei Prokofiev: War and Peace
Queen Berenice III of Egypt George Frideric Handel: Berenice
Boris Berezovsky, Russian business oligarch Anthony Bolton: The Life and Death of Alexander Litvinenko
Louis-Alexandre Berthier, Marshal of France Sergei Prokofiev: War and Peace
Joe Biden, 46th President of the United States Curtis K. Hughes: Say It Ain't So, Joe
Otto von Bismarck, first Chancellor of Germany Luigi Nono: Al gran sole carico d'amore
Harman Blennerhassett, Irish-American lawyer Walter Damrosch: The Man Without a Country
Blondel de Nesle, French troubador André Grétry: Richard Coeur-de-lion
Boabdil: see Muhammad XI of Granada
Francisco de Bobadilla, Spanish colonial administrator Alberto Franchetti: Cristoforo Colombo
Giovanni Boccaccio, Italian writer, poet Franz von Suppé: Boccaccio
Simone Boccanegra, first Doge of Genoa Giuseppe Verdi: Simon Boccanegra
George Boleyn, 2nd Viscount Rochford, brother of Anne Boleyn Gaetano Donizetti: Anna Bolena (as Rochefort)
Simón Bolívar, South American revolutionary Darius Milhaud: Bolivar Thea Musgrave: Simón Bolívar
Caroline Bonaparte, Queen Consort of Naples and Sicily, sister of Napoleon Pauline Bonaparte, Princess of France, sister of Napoleon Ivan Caryll: The Duchess of Dantzic
John Wilkes Booth, American presidential assassin Eric W. Sawyer: Our American Cousin
Lizzie Borden, American celebrity and possible axe-murderer Thomas Albert: Lizbeth Jack Beeson: Lizzie Borden
Jorge Luis Borges, Argentinian writer Juan María Solare: Veinticinco de agosto, 1983 (2 roles, Old Borges, baritone; and Young Borges, tenor)
Saint Francis Borgia, 4th Duke of Gandía, Spanish Superior-General of the Jesuits Ernst Krenek: Karl V
Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Pope Alexander VI Gaetano Donizetti: Lucrezia Borgia
Saint Charles Borromeo, Italian cardinal Hans Pfitzner: Palestrina
Đurađ Branković, Serbian despot Ferenc Erkel: György Brankovics
Prince Braslav, Duke of Lower Pannonia Eugen Suchoň: Svätopluk
Ed Broadbent, Canadian politician Alexina Louie: Mulroney: The Opera
Gian Francesco Brogni, Italian cardinal Fromental Halévy: La Juive
John Hobhouse, 1st Baron Broughton, British memoirist and politician Virgil Thomson: Lord Byron
John Brown, Sergeant of the Second Battalion, Boston Light Infantry Volunteer Militia Walter Schumann: John Brown's Body
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Flemish painter Jean Absil: Pierre Breughel l'Ancien
Antonín Brus of Mohelnice, Archbishop of Prague Hans Pfitzner: Palestrina (as Anton Brus von Müglitz)
Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger, Roman politician, co-assassin of Julius Caesar Giselher Klebe: Die Ermordung Cäsars
William Jennings Bryan, American Secretary of State, presidential candidate Douglas Moore: The Ballad of Baby Doe
Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham (1st creation) Giorgio Battistelli, Richard III (2004)
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham (2nd creation), English poet, statesman Robert Planquette: Nell Gwynne
The Buddha (Siddharta Gautama) Max Vogrich: Buddha
Johannes Bureus, Swedish scholar Wilhelm Peterson-Berger: The Doomsday Prophets (as Johan Bure)
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, English statesman, adviser to Elizabeth I Gaetano Donizetti: Maria Stuarda (as Lord Guglielmo Cecil)
Aaron Burr, third Vice President of the United States Walter Damrosch: The Man Without a Country
Anne Isabella Byron, Baroness Byron, wife of Lord Byron Virgil Thomson: Lord Byron
Lord Byron, English poet Agustí Charles: Lord Byron: un estiu sense estiu (Lord Byron: a summer without summer) Virgil Thomson: Lord Byron
C
Cacamatzin, Aztec king Roger Sessions: Montezuma
Alessandro Cagliostro (Giuseppe Balsamo), Italian adventurer and imposter Johann Strauss II: Cagliostro in Wien Mikael Tariverdiev: Graf Cagliostro
Maria Callas, American-Greek opera singer Michael Daugherty: Jackie O
Luís de Camões, Portuguese poet