Maddalena Laura Sirmen

Maddalena Laura Sirmen (1745-1818) was an Italian composer and violinist. She was born Maddalena Laura Lombardini on 9th December 1745 in Venice, Italy to an impoverished noble family. At the age of seven she began her studies at an orphanage in Venice that also taught music. In her fourteen years of study at the orphanage, Lombardini was occasionally given permission to leave and study with the virtuoso violinist and composer Giuseppe Tartini, in the hope that she would develop technical and emotional capacity.