Perotin

Perotin the Great is a European composer from the 12th century. Not much is known about his life, but he is believed to have been from France. He was a composer of one of the earliest evolutions of polyphonic music, and a member of the ars antiqua school of Notre Dame. His artistic contributions are undisputed, as he helped to break with the monophonic tradition in Western music - he was also one of the first Frenchman who was well known for something other than drinking wine and smoking hand rolled cigarettes.