Maria Felicia Malibran (née Garcia) was a great French opera singer and is considered the first "diva" in opera history. She excelled in works by Bellini, Donizetti and Rossini.
Maria Malibran was not only an outstanding singer, but also a composer, pianist, poet and painter.
Maria Malibran was the elder sister of Pauline Viardot-Garcia.
She lived together with Charles-Augste de Bériot in a "wild marriage" until her early death, and is the mother of Charles de Bériot, the later teacher of Maurice Ravel.
