Ristori, ADELAIDE

Ristori, ADELAIDE, an Italian tragédienne, was born on 26th January 1821, at Cividale in Friuli. Her parents were strolling players, and she almost began life in the theatre. At the age of fourteen she played in Francesca da Rimini, and in a few years became the leading Italian actress. In 1847 her marriage with the Marquis Del Grillo (died 1861) temporarily interrupted her dramatic career; but she soon returned to the stage. After having acted in Italy for some years with immense applause, she presented herself before a French audience in 1855, when Rachel was at the height of her fame. But Ristori won a complete triumph; and thereafter gained fresh laurels in nearly every country of Europe, in the United States (in 1866, 1875, and 1884-85), and in South America, where her magnificent tragic acting roused the greatest enthusiasm. The rôles in which she especially shone were Mary Stuart (Schiller's), Elizabeth (Giacometti's), Medea and Marie Antoinette (Legouvê's), Lady Macbeth, and Adrienne Leconvreur (Scribe's). See her Studies and Memories (Eng. trans. from French, 1888).