Today, October 15 (1775), is the birthday of Bernhard Henrik Crusell, a Finnish clarinetist and composer. He is a contemporary of  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart but born three months before the latter. They probably never met.  

Here’s a biography I wrote about Crusell at MozartForum,

Bernhard Henrik Crusell (1775-1838)
Swedish-Finnish clarinetist, composer and translator.

 By Tel Asiado

 

              The most significant and internationally best-known Finnish Classical composer and indeed, – the outstanding Finnish composer before Sibelius – was Bernhard Henrik Crusell (1775-1838), who rose to a prominent position in the Swedish music world. Born in Nystad, Finland, he lived in Stockholm from 1791onwards and performed his life’s work in Sweden. He made his last visit to his home country in summer 1801, when he performed in Turku and Helsinki. In those days, Finland was undeniably a musical backwater. The centre of musical activities was Turku, where the Turku Society of Music (Turun Soitannollinen Seura), founded in 1790, had done invaluable work in promoting music and had set up an orchestra of its own.

Full article … Bernhard Henrik Crusell