On December 2, 1923, a little girl was born in Manhattan, New York, to Greek immigrants in America, who was to become one of the world’s greatest opera divas and one of the most recognizable women on the planet – along with Jackie Kennedy

She was Maria Kallas – born Sophie Cecelia Kalos and baptized Maria Anna Cecilia Sofia Kalogeropoulos.

Her unparalleled passion and colossal talent established her in the world lyrical theater and her unique personality charmed even Aristotle Onassis (paying in the end with loneliness the price of her love for Aristo).

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kallas

Callas established herself on the international opera scene in Italy, where she met her mentor, maestro Tullio Serafin and her first husband, Giovanni Battista Meneghini.

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@wikipedia Callas with her husband Giovanni Battista Meneghini at their home in Milan in 1957

She associated her name with the most famous lyric scenes of Europe and America, he performed 47 full operatic roles (with “Norma” as her lover) and starred in the first opera production in the ancient theater of Epidaurus.

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She performed her last full operatic role on stage in 1965 and since Onassis’s marriage to Jackie Kennedy (Oct. 1968) she also limited her worldly appearances, living in relative isolation in Paris.

He died there on 16 September 1977, from myocardial infarction. He was also cremated her ashes were scattered in the Aegean Sea.

Decades after her death, she remains a model of “prima donna assoluta” and one of the most commercially successful opera artists.