Zinka Milanov
Opera Singer
Famous for her roles in such Giuseppe Verdi operas as Il Trovatore, La forza del destino, and Aida, this Croatian-born soprano had a lengthy career at New York's Metropolitan Opera. Also a singer of sacred music, she was a soloist in Verdi's Requiem and Beethoven's Missa Solemnis.
After training in Croatia, Italy, and Germany, the twenty-one-year-old Milanov sang the lead soprano role of Leonora in a Slovenian staging of Verdi's Il Trovatore.
She was, at one point, romantically involved with future Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito.
Born Zinka Kunc in Zagreb, Croatia, she later assumed the stage name of Zinka Milanov and settled in New York City. She was married several times; her third marriage was to a Yugoslav diplomat named Ljubomir Ilic.
The their mezzo-soprano Regina Resnik was one of Milanov's many vocal pupils.