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Who wrote the Italian libretto for Madama Butterfly?

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The Italian libretto for Madama Butterfly was written by the collaborators Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa.12

In their working process, Illica was responsible for devising the opera's structure and creating the first draft, while Giacosa was responsible for polishing the text and converting it into verse. This partnership was highly successful, as the two also collaborated on the libretti for two other famous operas by Giacomo Puccini: La Bohème and Tosca.2