thumb|right|Francesco Morlacchi on a stipple engraving by [[Luigi Rados.]]
Francesco Giuseppe Baldassare Morlacchi (14 June 1784 – 28 October 1841) was an Italian composer of more than twenty operas. During the many years he spent as the royal Royal Kapellmeister in Dresden, he was instrumental in popularizing the Italian style of opera.
Biography
Born in Perugia, Morlacchi was from a family of musicians. He composed from a very young age, first studying with his uncle Giovanni Mazzetti and later with Luigi Caruso in Perugia. He later studied at Loreto with Zingarelli (1803–4). Finally, he ended up in Bologna at the school of Stanislao Mattei (1805) where he met Gioacchino Rossini.