Vincente Martin (Martin y Solar), of Spanish descent, born about 1754, migrated in his boyhood to Italy, where he was known as _lo Spagnulo_. He wrote an opera, _Iphigenia in Aulis_, for the carnival in Florence in 1781, and having won some reputation as a composer in Italy, went to Vienna in 1785. Here his success was immense, so much so that his opera _Una Cosa Rara_ was a serious rival to Mozart's "Nozze di Figaro." A year later Mozart paid Martin the compliment of introducing a fragment of _Una Cosa Rara_ into the finale of the second act of "Don Juan." Martin went to St. Petersburg in 1788, at the invitation of the Italian opera company. During his stay in Russia eight of his operas were given in the vernacular, including _Dianino_, an _opera d'occasion_, the text by Catherine the Great; _La Cosa Rara_, translated by Dmitrievsky; _Fedoul and her Children_, in which he co-operated with the native composer Paskievich; _A Village Festival_, the libretto by V. Maikov, and a comic opera in one act, _Good Luke, or Here's my day_, the words by Kobyakov. The fact that he wrote so frequently to Russian texts entitles him to a place in the history of Russian opera. Martin was held in great honour in the capital, and the Emperor Paul I. made him a Privy Councillor. This did not prevent him, however, from suffering from the fickleness of fashion, for in 1808 the Italians were replaced by a French opera company and Martin lost his occupation. He continued, however, to live in Russia, teaching at the Smolny monastery and in the aristocratic families of St. Petersburg, where he died in May, 1810.