Blanche Hecht Consolvo Cariaggi
A white woman with fair skin and dark hair, wearing a dark dress with a square neckline and criss-cross ribbon detail on bodice; her hair is dressed into two side bunches and accented with two large flowers
Blanche Consolvo, from a 1918 publication
Born
Blanche Hardy Hecht

December 28, 1880
Norfolk, Virginia
DiedJuly 16, 1961
Norfolk, Virginia
SpouseAugusto Cariaggi

Blanche Hardy Hecht Consolvo Cariaggi (December 28, 1880[Note 1] – July 16, 1961) was an American singer and socialite from Virginia, and after 1922, an Italian countess.

Early life

Blanche Hardy Hecht was born in Norfolk, Virginia, the daughter of Jacob Hecht and Susanne (Sanna) Moritz Hecht. Her parents were Jewish.[1][2] Her mother was born in Germany, as were her paternal grandparents. Her father was a merchant born in New York City, and one of the trustees of the local synagogue.[3]

Hecht was known from youth as a singer and elocutionist.[4][5] She was a debutante in Norfolk in 1899,[6] attended the Boston School of Oratory, and joined in local theatrical productions as a "dainty and extremely pretty" young woman.[7]

Career

During her first marriage, Blanche Consolvo, a contralto, sang in concerts with Frieda Hempel, Rosa Ponselle[8] and May Peterson,[9] and toured in the Southern states.[10][11] She was first president of the Norfolk Opera Company, when it formed in 1914.[12][13][14] She starred in the title role when the company produced Dolly Varden in 1915, as a charity fundraiser.[15] Consolvo sang as a soloist with the Naval Port Band in Norfolk in 1917, at a send-off for American troops during World War I.[16] She pursued further vocal training and experience in Italy in 1920.[17] While in Italy, she met her second husband.[18]

Sheet music for a marching song she composed, "Our Governor Elect" (1905), was dedicated to her close friend, Virginia congressman Claude A. Swanson, when he was running for governor.[19][20][21]

Personal life

Blanche Hecht eloped to marry widowed Roman Catholic businessman and entrepreneur Charles Herbert Consolvo (1871–1947) in 1902, in North Carolina.[22][23][24] Her son Charles Swanson Consolvo was born in 1904.[25] She divorced Consolvo in Reno in May 1922,[18] and she married widower Augusto M. Cariaggi (1889–1970), an Italian count, in the same month, in New York.[26][27] They had a later wedding in Italy in 1923.[28] When C. H. Consolvo died, she successfully sued his estate for over $22,000.[29] She died in 1961, in Norfolk.

Note

  1. ↑ Some sources give Hecht's birth year as 1881 or 1883. In the 1900 United States census, she was described as being 19 years old and her birth date was recorded as December 1880. (via Ancestry)

References

  1. ↑ "Hebrew and Catholic Wed". The Baltimore Sun. 1902-10-21. p. 10. Retrieved 2021-05-24 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ↑ Berent, Irwin M. (2003). Norfolk, Virginia: A Jewish History of the 20th Century. Norfolk History Publishers. p. 19.
  3. ↑ "Romantic Elopement". Times. October 21, 1902. p. 8. Retrieved May 24, 2021 – via Virginia Chronicle, Library of Virginia.
  4. ↑ Brottman, Mikita (2018-11-06). An Unexplained Death: The True Story of a Body at the Belvedere. Henry Holt and Company. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-250-16915-0.
  5. ↑ "Fraternity Notes". Virginian-Pilot. 1900-10-28. p. 13. Retrieved 2021-05-24 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Charming Debutantes". Virginian-Pilot. November 12, 1899. p. 6. Retrieved May 24, 2021 – via Virginia Chronicle, Library of Virginia.
  7. ↑ "'Princess Bonnie' to be Given by Strong Local Talent". Times. p. 5. Retrieved May 24, 2021 – via Virginia Chronicle, Library of Virginia.
  8. ↑ "Five Well Known Soloist Are in Music Festival". Daily Press. 1919-04-20. p. 24. Retrieved 2021-05-24 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Concerts Start in the Stadium". The New York Times. 1919-06-29. p. 50. Retrieved 2021-05-24 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Blanche Consolvo (advertisement)". Musical America. 31: 96. November 15, 1919.
  11. ↑ "Spring Festival (advertisement)". Daily Press. 1919-04-27. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-05-24 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ Library of Virginia (1997). The Common Wealth: Treasures from the Collections of the Library of Virginia. The Library. p. 234. ISBN 978-0-88490-185-3.
  13. ↑ Hines, James Robert (1974). Musical Activity in Norfolk, Virginia, 1680-1973. University of North Carolina. p. 352.
  14. ↑ The Musical Blue Book of America. Musical Blue Book Corporation. 1919. p. 357.
  15. ↑ "Amateurs Star in Opera; Norfolk Company Successful in Giving 'Dolly Varden'". The Baltimore Sun. 1915-11-16. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-05-24 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ Parramore, Thomas C.; Stewart, Peter C.; Bogger, Tommy L. (2000-01-29). Norfolk: The First Four Centuries. University of Virginia Press. p. 286. ISBN 978-0-8139-1988-1.
  17. ↑ "Blanche Consolvo Leaves for Italy". Musical America. 31: 25. January 3, 1920.
  18. 1 2 "Mrs. C. H. Consolvo Reported Divorced". The Baltimore Sun. 1922-05-17. p. 26. Retrieved 2021-05-24 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ "A Guide to the Claude A. Swanson Papers". University of Virginia Library. Archived from the original on 2018-05-28. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  20. ↑ "High-Water Mark at Ocean View". The Times Dispatch. 1905-08-06. p. 12. Retrieved 2021-05-24 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ↑ "News Items". Irvington Virginia Citizen. August 18, 1905. p. 2. Retrieved May 24, 2021 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  22. ↑ "Hebrew and Catholic Wed". The Baltimore Sun. 1902-10-21. p. 10. Retrieved 2021-05-24 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ↑ Moore, Daniel Decatur (1922). Men of the South: A Work for the Newspaper Reference Library. Southern Biographical Association. p. 710.
  24. ↑ "Have Returned Home". The Norfolk Landmark. 1902-10-22. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-05-24 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ↑ Tyler, Lyon Gardiner (1915). Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, Under the Editorial Supervision of Lyon Gardiner Tyler. Lewis historical publishing Company. p. 360.
  26. ↑ "MET COUNT AT PIER AND QUICKLY WED; Divorced Wife of Col. C.H. Conselvo Now Countess Cariaggi--Pair Sail for Genoa Today". The New York Times. 1922-05-18. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-05-23.
  27. ↑ "Singer Freed in Reno is Wed Here to Italian Count". New York Herald. 1922-05-18. p. 11. Retrieved 2021-05-24 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ↑ "Nonsuit Taken by 2d Wife of Consolvo". The Times Dispatch. 1948-07-02. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-05-24 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ↑ "Wins $22,750 Verdict". Daily Press. 1948-11-17. p. 9. Retrieved 2021-05-24 – via Newspapers.com.
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