Real name: Медея Ивановна Фигнер (born name: Амедея Мей Дзоваиде, in Italian: Medea Mei-Figner)

Italian and Russian singer (mezzo-soprano). 1859 - 1952. Honored artist of the RSFSR.
The second wife of opera singer Nikolai Nikolaevich Figner = Николай Фигнер.
She was born into the family of a poor Italian artisan. She received her musical education in Italy, entering at the age of 14 the Florence Conservatory in the solo singing class of Albino Bianchi, who first developed her soprano and only after failure began to work with the young singer in a range more typical for her.
Later she studied with Heinrich Panofka, and at the same time took singing lessons from the singer K. Carozzi-Zucchi.
After her wedding to Nikolai Figner, she was called Medea May-Figner in Russia, her name is used in most Western reference books or simply as Medea Figner. In addition, her middle name was Ivanovna.
The bright life of Medea Figner was also surprisingly long. She witnessed several historical eras; in 1930 she left Soviet Russia and settled in Paris, where she died in the summer of 1952, only seven years short of her centenary.
In Italy
She made her first concert appearance in the mezzo-soprano role in Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem (1875). Until 1877 she performed in Turin (as Carmen), Nice (as Sappho in the opera of the same name by G. Pacini), Modena and Genoa. In 1877-1887 toured with great success in Spain (Seville, Barcelona, Madrid, Grenada), performed with A. Masini and M. Battistini. Since 1884 - in Italy (Milan, Bergamo, Turin, Bologna; in the ensemble with N. Figner she sang in the opera “The Favorite” by G. Donizetti. Together with F. Tamagno she toured South America.
She had a strong, even voice with a wide range and soft timbre (the upper register had a light sound), and a bright dramatic temperament. She paid great attention to diction, achieving correct Russian pronunciation. When working on some games, I used the advice of C. Ferney-Giraldoni.
In Russia
In the spring of 1887, the director of the Imperial St. Petersburg Russian Opera, G. P. Kondratiev, invited the artistic couple, who had become so popular in Europe and America, to perform on the main opera stage in Russia. The beautiful Medea May, Nikolai Figner's partner, was an equally resounding success. The concluded contract had fees for artists that were completely unheard of in Russia: Medea May received 15 thousand, and Nikolai Figner - 25 thousand rubles per year, compared to 12 thousand rubles per year that the best soloists of the Imperial Mariinsky Opera received.
On February 8, 1889, Medea May became Medea Ivanovna Figner and, for the next fifteen years, until their divorce in 1904, “the Figner couple” graced the Russian opera stage.
They toured in many cities - Moscow, Kiev, Odessa, Tiflis, Nizhny Novgorod, Tula, Chisinau and abroad: in London (Covent Garden Theater, 1887), South America (1903, together with Enrico Caruso), Japan, Berlin. Twice a year M.I. and N.N. Figner gave large concerts in the St. Petersburg building of the Noble Assembly, the proceeds from which were used for charitable purposes in favor of students.
On December 6, 1894, Medea Ivanovna and Nikolai Nikolaevich were awarded the title of Soloists of His Majesty.
Until 1912, Medea May-Figner was a soloist at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg.
Niva magazine, 1912
In 1923-1930 she taught in Leningrad. She was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR. On November 15, 1925, the last concert took place in the hall of the Leningrad Philharmonic. Since 1931, the singer lived in Paris. A few years before her death, in an interview with a French magazine, at almost 90 years of age, she spoke about her meetings with Tchaikovsky, about “The Queen of Spades” and even sang a few lines from Iolanta’s aria.