He was born in Bergamo into a very poor family with no tradition of music, but in 1806 he was one of the first pupils to be enrolled in a charity school at Bergamo founded by Simon Mayr. His first success came in 1822 with the opera "Zoraida di Granata".
He was the leading composer of Italian opera for nearly a decade after the early death of Bellini in 1835.
Donizetti is best known for his operatic works, but he also wrote music in a number of other forms, including some church music, a number of string quartets, and some orchestral works.
He is also the younger brother of Giuseppe Donizetti, who had become, in 1828, Instructor General of the Imperial Ottoman Music at the court of Sultan Mahmud II (1808-1839).
Donizetti's vocal style enriched the Bel Canto tradition which Rossini and Bellini had made popular. These three composers are generally accepted as the primary exemplars of early 19th century Bel Canto writing.
This was followed by more than sixty other operas, most of which characterized Italian Romaticism.
Rossini invited him to Paris to write an opera and there he was confined to hospital for some 17 months due to a strange nervous fever.
He returned to Bergamo where he died in 1848 and was buried next to maestro Mayr.
