Engelbert Humperdinck (1 September 1854 – 27 September 1921) was a German composer, best known for his opera, Hänsel und Gretel (ca. 1891). Humperdinck was born at Siegburg, in the Rhine Province.

After receiving piano lessons, Humperdinck produced his first composition at the age of seven. His first attempts at works for the stage were two Singspiele when he was 13. His parents did not approve of his becoming a musician, but despite them encouraging him to study architecture, he took music classes at the Cologne Conservatory, which he entered in 1872 under Ferdinand Hiller. In 1876 he won a scholarship which enabled him to go to Munich, where he studied with Franz Paul Lachner and later with Josef Rheinberger. In 1879 he was the first to win the Mendelssohn Award awarded by the Mendelssohn Stiftung (foundation) of Berlin. He went to Italy, and became acquainted with Richard Wagner in Naples. Wagner invited him to go to Bayreuth, and during 1880–81 Humperdinck assisted in the production of Parsifal. Having won another prize, however, he went again to Southern Europe, traveling through Italy, France and Spain, spending two years in Barcelona teaching at the Gran Teatre del Liceu conservatoire. In 1887 he returned to Cologne, and was appointed professor at the Hoch Conservatory (Frankfurt-am-Main) in 1890, and also teacher of harmony at Julius Stockhausen's Vocal School. By this time he had composed several works for chorus and a Humoreske for orchestra, which enjoyed a vogue in Germany. His opera Hänsel und Gretel was written in Frankfurt, ca. 1891.

His chief reputation rests on his opera Hänsel und Gretel, which was produced at Weimar, 1893. In 1896 the Kaiser made Humperdinck a Professor and he went to live at Boppard. Four years later, however, he went to Berlin where he was appointed head of a Meister-Schule of composition. Among his other stage works are Die sieben Geißlein (The Seven Little Kids) (1895), Die Königskinder (The King's Children) (1897, 1910), Dornröschen (Sleeping Beauty)(1902), Die Heirat wider Willen (The Reluctant Marriage) (1905), Bübchens Weihnachtstraum (The Christmas Dream) (1906), Die Marketenderin (The Vivandière) (1914), Gaudeamus: Szenen aus dem deutschen Studentenleben (Gaudeamus: Scenes from German Studentlife) (1919).