Salomea Deszner (; 1759 – 20 March 1806), was a Polish stage actress, opera singer, and theater director, active 1777–1806. Her father, Adam Teschner, was employed in the household of the aristocratic Branicki family, and she was noticed by the king and engaged at his theater. She was employed at Warsaw's National Theatre in 1777-85 and 1789–96, and in the theater in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

in 1785-89 and 1796–1801. She was the director of the theater in

Grodno Grodno, or Hrodna, is a city in western Belarus. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. The city is located on the Neman, Neman River, from Minsk, about from the Belarus–Poland border, border with Poland, and from the Belarus–Lithua ...

from 1802 until 1806, and as such had authority over the theatrical policy in the entire district. As an actor, she was regarded as belonging to the elite in Poland, and she was active in tragedy, comedy, and opera, was famed in

breeches role In theater, a breeches role or breeches part (also pants role, pants part, trouser role, trouser part, and Hosenrolle) is a role in which a female actor performs in male clothing. Breeches, tight-fitting knee-length pants, were a standard male ...

s, and was particularly known for the part of

Minna von Barnhelm ''Minna von Barnhelm or the Soldiers' Happiness'' (, ) is a ''lustspiel'' or comedy by the German author Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. It has five acts, was begun in 1763 and completed in 1767 – its author put the year 1763 on the official title ...

. She participated in the first

opera buffa Opera buffa (, "comic opera"; : ''opere buffe'') is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramma bernesc ...

in Poland, ''Dla miłości zmyślone szaleństwo'' (1779).

References

* Źródło: Słownik Biograficzny Teatru Polskiego 1765–1965, PWN Warszawa 1973 {{DEFAULTSORT:Deszner, Salomea 19th-century Polish actresses 1759 births 1806 deaths Actresses from the Russian Empire 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian opera singers Polish theatre directors Polish women theatre directors 18th-century Polish–Lithuanian actresses 19th-century Polish women opera singers Actresses from Białystok Musicians from Białystok