Pauline Viardot

Pauline Viardot [née García] (1821–1910) was a leading nineteenth-century French mezzo-soprano, pedagogue, and composer of Spanish descent. Michelle Ferdinande Pauline García was born on 18th July 1821 in Paris to a Spanish opera family. Her godparents were Ferdinando Paer and Princess Pauline Galitsin, who provided her with her middle names. She was thirteen years younger than her sister, mezzo Maria Malibran, but her father, Spanish tenor Manuel del Pópulo Vicente García