Lamara Chkhonia
Georgian soprano Lamara Chkhonia was born on 27 December 1930 into a Georgian musical and theatrical family. She studied with Valerian Cashelli at Tbilisi State Conservatoire and became influenced by Italian opera.
She worked at Tbilisi Opera and then became a leading soloist at the Kiev National Opera and Ballet Theatre.
She had a repertoire of about forty roles, including Gilda, Madama Butterfly, Marguerite. Rosina and Violetta. She also made many recordings and toured outside of the Soviet Union.
In 1996, to teach singing and live with one of her daughters, she moved to Madrid, Spain, where she died on 14 March 2024, aged ninety-three.