Victoria Isabella Heliodora Bundsen, also known as Victoria Boni and Victoria de Bunsen (2 March 1839 in

Brastad Brastad is a urban areas of Sweden, locality situated in Lysekil Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 1,846 inhabitants in 2010. Sports The following sports clubs are located in Brastad: * Stångenäs AIS References Extern ...

Bohuslän Bohuslän () is a Provinces of Sweden, Swedish province in Götaland, on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, Västergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North Sea to the ...

– 18 February 1909 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

) was a Swedish opera singer (

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...

). She was the daughter of vice governor Fr. Bundsen and Anna Juliana Otterdahl. She was a student of the

Royal Swedish Opera Royal Swedish Opera () is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Location and environment The building is located in the centre of Sweden's capital, Stockholm, in the borough of Norrmalm (borough), Norrmalm, on the eastern si ...

in 1858 and debuted there in 1861. She was a student of Jean Jacques Masset in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and Lamperti in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. In 1865–1872, she was active under the name Victoria Boni as a prima donna alto in

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

. In 1872, she was hired at

Her Majesty's Theatre His Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated in the Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The building, designed by Charles J. Phipps, was constructed in 1897 for the actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who ...

, where she enjoyed a successful career as "madame de Bunsen".

Sources

* Victoria Isabella Heliodora Bunsen i Adolf Lindgren och Nils Personne, Svenskt porträttgalleri (1897), volym XXI. Tonkonstnärer och sceniska artister. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bundsen, Victoria 1839 births 1909 deaths Women of the Victorian era Swedish emigrants to the United Kingdom 19th-century Swedish women opera singers Operatic contraltos People from Lysekil Municipality Musicians from Västra Götaland County