I remember watching a TV programme about the final years of the Duchess of Windsor in Paris a while back. This reminded me of something I had read about the later life of Maria Callas.
Maria Callas’s 'suspicious death'
Maria Callas was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century. She died at her home in Paris on September 16th 1977, after living in loneliness and isolation for many years.
A heart attack was given as the official cause of her death, but the following disturbing extracts from articles I found online suggest a very different story; a colleague believes that she was poisoned for her money:
Maria Callas’s 'suspicious death'
Maria Callas was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century. She died at her home in Paris on September 16th 1977, after living in loneliness and isolation for many years.
A heart attack was given as the official cause of her death, but the following disturbing extracts from articles I found online suggest a very different story; a colleague believes that she was poisoned for her money:
“Opera legend Maria Callas was murdered for her $9 million (GBP5 million) fortune, according to film director Franco Zeffirelli.
Zeffirelli, who has made a film of the soprano's last days called Callas Forever, is convinced the singer was poisoned in 1977 at the age of 53 by pianist Vasso Devetzi.
Zeffirelli explains, ‘In her last years, Maria was totally under the control of a woman named Vasso Devetzi. Little by little, she cleared everyone away.
I have been told Maria left a will giving everything to her maid, her driver and a musicians' retirement home. But after she died, there was no sign of this will and Devetzi got most of what Maria had.
Devetzi was giving Maria sleeping pills and amphetamines the whole time. It is legitimate to think that Devetzi killed Maria and then stole everything she had.’
He adds that Devetzi, who is now dead, ordered for Callas's body to be ‘cremated immediately after the funeral service’ and ‘there was never an autopsy’ as it was widely suspected Callas died of a heart attack.”
Read the full article from 28/11/2004 here.
