Elisabeth "Betty" Spitzeder-Vio (1806 or 1808–1872), also known as Betty Maurer, was an Italian-German opera singer ( soubrette /

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

) and actress. She was the mother of

Adele Spitzeder Adelheid Luise "Adele" Spitzeder (; 9 February 1832 – 27 or 28 October 1895), also known by her stage name Adele Vio, was a German actress, folk singer, and con artist. Initially a promising young actress, Spitzeder became a well-known private ...

(1832–1895) from her first husband, Josef Spitzeder (1794/96–1832). Vio's birth date is unknown, with sources both mentioning 22 June 1806 and 22 June 1808. One contemporary source puts her age in 1812 as nine years old, meaning she would have been born in 1802 or 1803. Her father is usually named as the Italian noble Francesco Vio, but the fact that she was born in Lübeck makes it more likely that her parents were (Georg Friedrich) Wilhelm Vio and Philippine Vio (né Dupont) who were engaged in Lübeck from 1799 to 1809 and performed with Betty beginning in 1810 at the Bergisches Theater in Düsseldorf. Vio studied singing with Antonio Salieri and

Giuseppe Ciccimarra Giuseppe Ciccimarra (22 May 1790 – 5 December 1836) was an Italian tenor, closely associated with Rossini roles. Career Ciccimarra was born in Altamura. He was considered one of the best comprimario tenors of his time. For Rossini, he crea ...

in Vienna and was engaged at the Vienna State Opera in 1825. In 1829, she was hired at the

Berlin Court Opera Berlin is the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, as measured by population within city limits having gained this statu ...

as a replacement for Henriette Sontag but followed her first husband Josef Spitzeder, whom she married in 1831, to Munich in 1832. After his death, she returned to Berlin, where their daughter

was born. She later married Franz Maurer and moved to

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

and had some engagements at the Carltheater in Vienna. In 1844, her daughter Adele persuaded Vio to move back to Munich, where the family lived with Adele's half-siblings and cousins. Vio died on 15 December 1872 in Munich.

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* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vio, Betty 1800s births Year of birth uncertain 1872 deaths 19th-century German actresses German stage actresses 19th-century German women opera singers