Elise, Countess of Edla

Elise Friederike Hensler ( May 22nd 1836 in La Chaux -de-Fonds or Vienna, † May 21, 1929 in Lisbon ) was an opera singer (soprano), as the wife of King Ferdinand II of Portugal in 1869 for " Countess of Edla " was charged.

Life

Elisa Friederike Hensler was the daughter of the pianist Conrad Hensler, who took his daughter to the perfection of their musical training with them to America. In 1856 she made ​​her debut as an opera singer in the opera Linda di Chamounix and soon became a celebrated soprano of American opera. Elise has performed in Europe, including Italy, Berlin and Lisbon.

It was in 1860 mistress of King Ferdinand II ( 1816-1885 ), the one in 1869 before the election turned desist from his mistress, or to accept as the successor of Isabella II, the Spanish crown. Was He chose Elise, whom he married in Lisbon on June 10, 1869 at the Palacio de Visme and of Duke Ernst II of Saxe -Coburg and Gotha, a German relatives of Ferdinand, the " Countess of Edla " collected. Ferdinand owed ​​his fame in the USA almost exclusively to his popular wife. In the Portuguese royal family, Elise was met with disapproval. Queen Maria Pia had once ostentatiously broken a glass, as Ferdinand wanted a toast to his wife. The first public appearance of the couple, the guests Elise refused to shake hands.

The couple lived in the Palácio Nacional da Pena, where both an artistic circle gathered around and Sintra made ​​it an alternative Kulturhof. Elisa and her husband are considered supporters and patrons of the painter Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro and José Vianna da Motta of the composer. The palace inhabited Elise continue as a widow, as Ferdinand had determined in his will to his wife sole heir. The largest part of the heritage she had but need to sell to pressure from the press to the Portuguese State.