Euphrosyne Parepa-Rosa
Famous Operatic Singer
1836 – 1874 A.D.

This noted singer was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, May 7, 1836. Her father was a Wallachian nobleman, Baron Georgiades de Boyesku, of Bucharest. The baron died when Parepa was but a babe, leaving her mother a widow at twenty-one and in poverty. The mother took to singing in public and trained her daughter for the profession. Parepa made remarkable progress in her musical studies and at the same time learned to speak with ease, English, Italian, French, German, and Spanish.

At sixteen years of age she appeared in public for the first time in the city of Malta; then at Naples, Genoa, Rome, Florence, Madrid, and Lisbon, and everywhere became a favorite.

In 1857 she appeared in London and was so well received and so well did she sustain her reputation as a singer, that she continued in England for nine years. During this time she married a British officer, Captain Carvell of the East India service, but he died within a short period of time of their marriage.

In 1866 Parepa came to America and made a tour of the country with Levy, the noted cornetist and Carl Rosa, violinist. She began with concert work in New York, but afterwards took up also the oratorio and the opera. In 1867 she became the wife of Carl Rosa. In 1869-72 she organized with her husband an English opera company, with which she sang in the principal cities of the United States. During the winter of 1872-73 she sang at the Khedive’s court in Egypt. She died in London, January 21, 1874.

Parepa Rosa’s voice was pure soprano of great power and compass. In the technical parts of music she was thoroughly trained and possessed a perfect mastery of herself in execution.

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Reference: Woman: Her Position, Influence and Achievement Throughout the Civilized World. Designed and Arranged by William C. King. Published in 1900 by The King-Richardson Co. Copyright 1903 The King-Richardson Co.