Thomas, Ambroise (äNbrwäz' tōmä') [key], 1811–96, French operatic composer, studied at the Paris Conservatory, receiving the Prix de Rome in 1832. He later taught composition there and became its director in 1871. Thomas wrote cantatas, a number of ballets, and 20 operas, of which Le Caïd (1849, a satire on Italian opera), Mignon (1866), and Hamlet (1868) were the most successful.
