Wagner, Cosima

daughter of FRANZ LISZT and the Countess Marie d'Agoult, first wife of HANS (Guido) VON BÜLOW, second wife of (Wilhelm) RICHARD WAGNER; b. Bellagio, on Lake Como, Dec. 24, 1837; d. Bayreuth, April 1, 1930. Cosima received an excellent education in Paris. She married the famous conductor Hans von Bülow in 1857. There were two daughters of this marriage, Blandine and Daniela, while the third daughter, Isolde, was Wagner's child, as was the fourth, Eva, and the son, Siegfried. A divorce from von Bülow followed in 1870, with the marriage to Richard Wagner taking place a few weeks later.

A woman of high intelligence, practical sense, and imperious character, Cosima emerged after Wagner's death as a powerful personage in all affairs regarding the continuance of the Bayreuth Festivals, as well as the complex matters pertaining to the rights of performance of Wagner's works all over the world.