Ödön Mihalovich (also: Edmund (von) Mihalovich, Fericsánci, September 13, 1842 - Budapest, April 22, 1929) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, music publisher and music educator.
Mihalovich was born of a noble family in Western Slavonia (his birthplace is now in Croatia). He studied in Budapest from 1855 in Mihály Mosonyi and from 1865 in Leipzig at Moritz Hauptmann. In Munich, where he attended classes at Peter Cornelius, he learned to know Richard Wagner. Under his influence, he founded a wagner association in 1872 in Budapest, the still-existing Richard Wagner Társaság.
From 1887 to 1919, Mihalovich was the successor to Franz Liszt as director of the Royal Music Academy in Budapest, the current Franz Liszt Music Academy, who, under his leadership, gained international fame, in that he was able to bind renowned musicians to the program. In 1907 he also adopted his talented young countrymen Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály.
As a composer, Mihalovich was especially known as operacomponist in his time. In addition, he wrote four symphonies, seven symphonic poems, songs and chamber music. He acts as a typical Wagner epigon.
From Mihalovich correspondence has been preserved with Franz Liszt, with whom he acted together, with Gustav Mahler whom he admired and supported while working in Budapest, and with Mathilde Wesendonck, Wagner's muse, of whom he showed some poems.
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