Giuseppina Bozzacchi (23 November 1853 – 23 November 1870) was an Italian

ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

, noted for creating the role of Swanhilda in

Léo Delibes Clément Philibert Léo Delibes (; 21 February 1836 – 16 January 1891) was a French Romantic composer, best known for his ballets and operas. His works include the ballets ''Coppélia'' (1870) and '' Sylvia'' (1876) and the opera ''Lakm� ...

' ballet ''

Coppélia ''Coppélia'' (sometimes subtitled: ''La Fille aux Yeux d'Émail'' (The Girl with the Enamel Eyes)) is a comic ballet from 1870 originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Léo Delibes, with libretto by Charles-Louis-Éti ...

'' at the age of 16 while dancing for the

Paris Opera Ballet The Paris Opera Ballet () is a French ballet company that is an integral part of the Paris Opera. It is the oldest national ballet company, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it. It is still regarded ...

. Bozzacchi, who was born in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

,Giuseppina Bozzacchi
in Enciclopedia Treccani (on-line edition). (Text in Italian. Retrieved 22 January 2012.) had come to Paris to study with Mme Dominique. The choreographer

Arthur Saint-Léon Arthur Saint-Léon (17 September 1821, in Paris – 2 September 1870) was the '' Maître de Ballet'' of St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet from 1859 until 1869 and is famous for creating the choreography of the ballet ''Coppélia''. Biography He was ...

and the director of the

Académie Royale de Musique The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...

Émile Perrin Émile-César-Victor Perrin was a French painter, mainly known as a theatre director and impresario, born in Rouen on 9 January 1814, died 8 October 1885.Dean W. ''Bizet.'' London, JM Dent & Sons, 1978. His son-in-law was Camille du Locle. Bio ...

, had been searching for a suitable Swanhilda, after deciding that none of the ballerinas previously considered – Léontine Beaugrand and Angelina Fioretti – were suitable, while , the favorite ballerina of Saint-Léon, had started to prepare the role with choreography in 1868 but then fell seriously ill. In 1869 they even asked the composer, Léo Delibes, to seek out a suitable Swanhilda on his trip to Italy. He returned empty-handed; in the meantime, Saint-Léon and Perrin had discovered 16-year-old Bozzacchi. She created the Swanhilda role on 25 May 1870 in the presence of Emperor

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

. She repeated her success in the following weeks. In July an international dispute broke out between

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

over the succession to the Spanish throne, and on 19 July France declared war. Bozzacchi danced Swanhilda for the 18th and last time on 31 August, when the

Paris Opéra The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be k ...

closed for the duration of the Franco-Prussian War. The Opéra had stopped paying salaries, and Bozzacchi, weakened by lack of food, became ill. She contracted smallpox and fever, and died on the morning of her 17th birthday. She was buried at

Cimetière de Montmartre The Cemetery of Montmartre (french: link=no, Cimetière de Montmartre) is a cemetery in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, France, that dates to the early 19th century. Officially known as the Cimetière du Nord, it is the third largest necropolis ...

in Paris.

References

External links

* * (originally at http://www.ballet.org.uk/reference/notes/coppelia/creation.html; now archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bozzacchi, Giuseppina 1853 births 1870 deaths Deaths from smallpox Infectious disease deaths in France French ballerinas Italian ballerinas Dancers from Milan 19th-century Italian ballet dancers Burials at Montmartre Cemetery Paris Opera Ballet étoiles Principal dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet