Isang Yun
After being kidnapped from Germany in 1967 by the South Korean Secret Service, transported to Seoul, tortured and sentenced to death, Isang Yun composed the opera Butterfly Widow in prison on the floor of his cell! It was not his first time in prison - his active resistance against the Japanese occupation of Korea had made him a political prisoner until the end of World War II. This time, the international composing community caused enough diplomatic pressure for his release to Germany in 1969.
He composed Königliches Thema in 1976, after The Musical Offering by J. S. Bach.