Portrait of Actress Ilka Palmay

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Ilka Pálmay, often misidentified as Ilka von Pálmay, was born Ilona Petráss on September 21, 1859, and died on February 17, 1945. This Hungarian-born singer and actress launched her stage career in Hungary by 1880, quickly rising to prominence by the early 1890s at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, where she played leading roles in opera and operetta. In the early 1890s, Ilka Pálmay married Austrian Count Eugen Kinsky. By 1895, she was performing in London, creating her most notable role to date as Julia in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Grand Duke in 1896. Returning to Hungary in 1897, Ilka Pálmay spent the remainder of her illustrious career between Hungary and Austria until retiring from performance in 1928.