Vestris, Lucia Elizabeth Bartolozzi, 1797-1856

Lucia Elizabeth Bartolozzi Vestris (March 3, 1797 – August 8, 1856) was an English actress and a contralto opera singer, appearing in works by, among others, Mozart and Rossini. She was born in London in 1797, the first of two daughters of German pianist Theresa Jansen Bartolozzi and art dealer Gaetano Stefano Bartolozzi. Lucia studied music and was noted for her voice and dancing ability. She was married at age 16 to the French ballet dancer, Auguste Armand Vestris, a scion of the great family of dancers of Florentine origin, but her husband deserted her for another woman and left for Naples four years later. Nevertheless, since she had started singing and acting professionally as "Madame Vestris", she retained the stage name throughout her career. She married in 1838 for the second time, to the British actor and former associate Charles James Mathews, just before leaving on tour with him for America. They cooperated in their subsequent managerial ventures, including the management of the Lyceum Theatre and the theatre in Covent Garden. In the late 1840s Vestris began to appear less and less on the stage. Her last performance was in 1854. She died on 8 August 1856 at her home in Fulham, Grove Lodge.