{{Short description|French opera singer (1911–2016)}} {{Infobox musical artist | honorific_prefix = | name = Deva Dassy | honorific_suffix = | image = Deva_Dassy.jpg | image_upright = | image_size = | landscape = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank --> | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name = Marie-Anne Lambert | alias = | birth_date = 26 August 1911 <!-- {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} for living people supply only the year unless the exact date is already WIDELY published, as per WP:DOB --> | birth_place = Paris | origin = | death_date = {{Death date and age|2016|3|11|1911|8|26|df=y}} | death_place = Mouriès | genre = opera | occupation = | instrument = mezzo-soprano | years_active = 1932-1962 | label = | associated_acts = | website = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} or {{Official URL}} --> | module = | module2 = | module3 = }}

'''Deva Dassy''' (born '''Marie-Anne Lambert'''; 26 August 1911 – 11 March 2016) was a French mezzo-soprano, active in opera and operetta in France from the 1930s to the 1960s who made many radio and studio recordings.<ref name="emcm">[http://194.254.96.55/cm/?for=fic&cleint=647 Deva-Dassy. In : L'encyclopédie multimedia de la comédie musicale théâtrale en France (1918-1940)], accessed 17 March 2016 (with two portrait photos)</ref><ref>The Bibliothèque nationale de France give her place of birth as Nice, while other sources offer both 'Deva Dassy' and 'Deva-Dassy' as the stage name.</ref><ref name="bnfdassy">[http://data.bnf.fr/14169250/deva_dassy/ Deva Dassy at the BNF]</ref><ref>[http://viaf.org/processed/BNF%7C14169250 Virtual International Authority File] accessed, 25 April 2016.</ref><ref name="diapason"/>

==Life and career== Born Marie-Anne Lambert in Paris, she was the daughter of the radical French politician Charles Lambert (1883–1972) and the pianist Germaine Polack (1878–1952)<ref name="diapason"/><ref>[http://www.artlyriquefr.fr/dicos/Opera-Comique%20Cantatrices.html L'Art Lyrique website], Cantatrices de l'Opéra-Comique, accessed 25 April 2016.</ref> and had a half-sister Gertrude van Goens, from the previous marriage of her mother with the cellist and composer Daniël van Goens (1858–1904).<ref>[http://gw.geneanet.org/pierfit?lang=en&p=germaine&n=polack Germaine POLACK (1878-1952) genealogy], accessed 23 July 2017.</ref>

She made her debut with her stage name at the Opéra-Comique on 19 February 1932 in ''Madame Butterfly'' (Suzouki). She went on to sing major roles in operas such as ''Werther'' (Charlotte), ''Mignon'' (Mignon),<ref name="diapason"/> ''Résurrection'' (Servant), ''Gianni Schicchi'' (Ciesca) and ''Les voitures versées'' (Agathe) ''La Femme nue'' (l'Infirmière). Among her creations at the Salle Favart were Inès in ''Frasquita'' (1932), Violette in ''Le Roi bossu'' by Elsa Barraine, a servant in ''Tarass Boulba''.<ref>Wolff, Stéphane. ''Un demi-siècle d'Opéra-Comique.'' André Bonne, Paris, 1953.</ref>

In 1934 her performances in Nice brought forward the comment that her Charlotte confirmed her early promise to be a star of the French lyric stage, with her warm and sensitive voice. As Mignon, the critic lauded her physical appearance embodying the wild 'bohémienne', with her voice across varied tones. She also appeared there that season as ''la Navarraise'' and as Prince Charmant in ''Cendrillon''.<ref>''Lyrica'' March–April 1934 (No.129) Opéra de Nice - Werther and Mignon</ref>

In musical comedy she created roles in ''Erosine'' in 1935 (Commère),<ref>''Le Populaire'' 11 Nov 1935 (No 4656) 'Les Spectacles - Théâtre de l'Etoile - Erosine' (opérette à grand spectacle)</ref> the title role in ''Yana'' in 1936, and in the 'revue opérette' ''La Féérie blanche'' in 1937, with Anton Dolin among the cast. After the war she became a frequent participant in the programme of the Service lyrique de l'ORTF making radio broadcasts of light operas,<ref name="diapason"/> and up to 1963 took part in ''Rhodope'' (Ganne) 1962, ''No, no, Nanette'' 1954, ''Dix-neuf ans'' (Pascal Bastia) 1963 and Lady Poum (''Die erste Beste'', Oscar Straus) 1963, among others.<ref name="emcm"/>

She appeared in the film ''Faut ce qu'il faut'' (filmed 1940, released 1946, also known as ''Monsieur Bibi'') directed by René Pujol,<ref>[http://cinema.encyclopedie.films.bifi.fr/index.php?pk=70486 "Faut ce qu'il faut = Monsieur Bibi"] in the catalogue of Ciné-Ressources, accessed 23 July 2017.</ref> ''Ces sacrées vacances'' (1955) by Robert Vernay,<ref>[http://cinema.encyclopedie.films.bifi.fr/index.php?pk=51644 Ces sacrées vacances], accessed 2017.</ref> and ''Toute la ville accuse'' (1955) by Claude Boissol.<ref>[http://cinema.encyclopedie.films.bifi.fr/index.php?pk=56186 Cine-Ressources page for Toute la ville accuse (1955) Claude Boissol], accessed 23 July 2017.</ref>

In the 1930s she recorded operetta excerpts from, among others, ''Deux sous de fleurs'', ''La Dubarry'', ''Fleur d'Hawaï'', ''O mon bel inconnu'', ''Rose de France'', ''Valses de Vienne'' and ''Yana''.<ref name="emcm"/> In the 1950s she took part in recordings of longer extracts or complete versions of ''La Petite Mademoiselle'' by Messager, ''Le Coeur et la main'' by Lecocq (Josefa), ''Les Mousquetaires au couvent'' by Varney (Soeur Opportune), ''Geneviève de Brabant'' (Isoline), ''Orphée aux enfers'' (Junon/Vénus), ''La Vie parisienne'' (Métella) and ''Barbe-Bleue'' (La Reine Clémentine) and the title role in ''La belle Hélène'' by Offenbach. In 1962 she was Militza in ''François les bas-bleus'' in a radio recording under Marcel Cariven.<ref name="bnfdassy"/><ref>[http://www.ina.fr/recherche/search?search=deva+dassy ~Result of search for 'Deva Dassy' in the online Institut National d'audiovisuel], accessed 23 July 2017.</ref> She died in Mouriès.

==Family== In 1925 she wed Artillery Lieutenant Louis Jean Charles Lallemant (1904–1934) at Fontainebleau (divorced 1932). In 1936 she married François Brunschwig, and had a son Jean-François; they were divorced the same year.<ref>[http://gw.geneanet.org/pierfit?lang=en&p=marie+anne&n=lambert&oc=2 Déva DASSY cantatrice (1911-2016) genealogy], accessed 23 July 2017.</ref>

In 1940 she was one of the passengers on the ocean liner the SS Massilia with her partner Georges Mandel which transported members of the defeated French government and their families into exile.<ref name="diapason">Fauchet, Benoît. Deva Dassy [Ils nous ont quittés]. ''Diapason'', Juin 2016, No.647, p15.</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [https://www.granger.com/results.asp?image=0143552&itemw=4&itemf=0001&itemstep=1&itemx=1 Photo showing Deva Dassy (seated right)] at Gilbert Bécaud's birthday in 1955. accessed 28 April 2016. * [http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=deva+dassy&qt=notfound_page&search=Search WorldCat entry for Deva Dassy]{{Dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} accessed 23 July 2017.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dassy, Deva}} Category:1911 births Category:2016 deaths Category:French operatic mezzo-sopranos Category:Singers from Paris Category:People from Gard Category:20th-century French women opera singers Category:French women centenarians