It was Tullio Serafin who made her “la Callas”, conducting her in “La Gioconda” at the Verona Arena in 1947. She died alone in Paris on 16 September 1977; the cremation, carried out very quickly, made any autopsy impossible. Her urn was stolen, recovered, and her ashes then scattered in the Aegean Sea.
The story
Maria Anna Cecilia Sophia Kalogeropoulos was born in New York on 2 December 1923, into a poor Greek family that shortened the name to Callas. A pupil of Maria Trivella and then of Elvira de Hidalgo, who became her confidante, she made her debut at seventeen in Franz von Suppé's “Boccaccio”.
In 1947 Tullio Serafin conducted her in “La Gioconda” at the Verona arena: it was he who made her ‘la Callas’. In 1949 she married Giovanni Battista Meneghini, and she sang with Del Monaco, Di Stefano, Boris Christoff, Georges Prêtre.
Her career was made of outbursts as much as of high notes. In Rome she walked off at the end of the first act of “Norma” in front of the President of the Italian Republic; her rivalry with Renata Tebaldi had her shut out of La Scala.
She left Meneghini in 1959 for Aristotle Onassis, by whom, according to her biographer Nicholas Gage, she had a child that died at birth — the episode is still disputed. In 1968 Onassis married Jackie Kennedy. She gave master classes in New York in 1971 and 1972, and then the voice gave way and the solitude set in.
She died alone in her Paris flat on 16 September 1977, at fifty-three; she had not sung on stage since 1965, and the cremation followed so fast that no autopsy was ever possible. Her urn was stolen by an admirer, recovered a few days later, and her ashes were scattered over the Aegean Sea.
The grave
This is not a grave but a columbarium niche, number 16 258, and it is empty. The urn was placed there after the cremation of 1977, stolen by an admirer, recovered a few days later, and the ashes were then scattered in the Aegean Sea. The plaque was left in place, for the admirers who keep coming: the columbarium keeps the name and keeps nothing else. It is the third monument in the cemetery in this situation, after the cenotaph of General Andranik and the empty tomb of Bellini.
On site, do not miss
Niche 16 258, its plaque and the flowers left there — in front of a recess, empty since 1979.
Visitors' questions
Where is Maria Callas's grave?
In the Père-Lachaise columbarium, Division 87, niche 16,258. The niche is empty: her ashes were scattered in the Aegean. The plaque was kept for her admirers, who still lay flowers there.
Vincenzo BelliniAre Callas's ashes at Père-Lachaise?
No. After the urn was stolen by a devotee and returned a few days later, the ashes were scattered in the Aegean. What remains in Division 87 is a plaque in front of an empty niche.
General AndranikHow did Maria Callas die?
Alone in her Paris apartment, on 16 September 1977, at fifty-three. She had not sung on stage since 1965; the cremation followed so fast that it ruled out any post-mortem.
Marietta AlboniWho made her “la Callas”?
The conductor Tullio Serafin, who conducted her in 1947 in “La Gioconda” at the Verona Arena: the nickname dates from that evening. She went on to sing with Del Monaco, Di Stefano, Boris Christoff and Georges Prêtre.
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