Maria Francisca Bia

Maria Francisca Bia called Mimi, (1809-1889) was a Dutch ballet dancer, opera singer and dramatic stage actress.

She was born to the ballet dancers Jean Lambert Bia (1767-1829) and Catherine Rebecca Grave (1782-1846) and married in 1828 to Reinier Engelman (1795-1845), actor and theatre director, and in 1865 to Jan Eduard de Vries (1808-1875) actor and theatre director.

She debuted as a ballet dancer in her childhood, as an actor in 1819 and as an opera singer in 1823. She was in 1827-1859 active at the theatre in Amsterdam and in 1859-1865 at the theatre in Rotterdam. Her influence within the theatre was great: she either took the leading roles herself, or could influence who was given them. She was active at the Théâtre Français in Paris in 1842-44.

Bia was regarded as one of the greatest actors of her time in the Netherlands.

References

• Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis (Dutch)

Bibliography

• Algemeen Handelsblad, 23-2-1846; 30-11-1868.
• Amsterdamsche Courant, 29-11-1868 [recensie]; 16-7-1889.
• N. Beets, Het dagboek van de student Nicolaas Beets 1833-1836 (Den Haag 1883) 123.
• M.B. Mendes da Costa, Tooneel-herinneringen, 1 (Leiden 1900) 44, 45, 179-181.
• Noord- en Zuid-Nederlandsche Tooneel-Almanak (Amsterdam 1877).
• W.G.F.A. van Sorgen, De tooneelspeelkunst te Utrecht en de Utrechtsche schouwburg (Den Haag 1885).
• Utrechtsch Dagblad, 10-7-1880.
• J.A. Worp, Geschiedenis van den Amsterdamschen Schouwburg (Amsterdam 1920).
• N. van Vulpen, Ondernemers van publieke vermakelijkheden en de opkomst van het burgerinitiatief: vermaak in Utrecht 1850-1880 (Utrecht 1994).

Persondata
Name	Bia, Maria Francisca
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Date of birth	1809
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Date of death	1889
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