26/02/1878, Prague, Austro-Hungarian Empire – 28/01/1930, České Budějovice, Czechoslovakia
Czech operatic soprano with a strong and soaring lyric-dramatic voice. She had a career both in Europe and at the New York Metropolitan Opera. Her fame became international in 1901 when she was invited to sing the part of Senta in Der fliegende Holländer at Germany's Bayreuth Festspielhaus. She returned to sing the same role the next year. Destinn's career suffered a fatal blow in World War I. She returned to her homeland after the start of the war in 1914, but her links with the patriotic Czech resistance caused her passport to be revoked. She was interned at her chateau for the remainder of the conflict. By the time that she returned to the Met in 1919, her voice had become rusty and she had been replaced in the hearts of New York audiences by a new generation of singers, although she did still continue to sing with the company until 1921.