Felicita Vestvali

Felicita Vestvali(1829-1880), also known as Felicità von Vestvali, was an opera singer and actress famous in both Europe and the United States.

Career

Despite her Italian stage name, Vestali was actually born in Germany as Anna Marie Staegemann She was known in North America as “Vestvali the Magnificent” or "Magnificent Vestvali" and was a favorite performer of Abraham Lincoln's and Emperor Napoleon III. Vestali was admired for her beauty and her contralto voice and for her independence from the norms of femininity at the time. She was a self-described “man-hater” (“Männerfeindin”) and an ambitious theatrical star, with links with the feminist movement, the nascent movement for gay and lesbian rights, and to the movements for racial and religious emancipation.