abstract:Jan Václav Antonín Stamic (later, during his life in Mannheim, Germanized as Johann Wenzel Anton Stamitz; June 18, 1717, Deutschbrod, Bohemia – March 27, 1757, Mannheim, Electorate of the Palatinate) was a Czech composer and violinist. His two surviving sons, Carl and Anton Stamitz, were scarcely less important composers of the Mannheim school, of which Johann is considered the founding father.