Maria Francisca Bia

She was born in Amsterdam to the ballet dancers Jean Lambert Bia (1767–1829) and Catherine Rebecca Grave (1782–1846) and married in 1828 to Reinier Engelman (1795–1845), actor and theatre director, and in 1865 to Jan Eduard de Vries (1808–1875) actor and theatre director.

She debuted as a ballet dancer in her childhood, as an actor in 1819 and as an opera singer in 1823. She was in 1827-1859 active at the theatre in Amsterdam and in 1859-1865 at the theatre in Rotterdam. Her influence within the theatre was great: she either took the leading roles herself, or could influence to whom they were given. She was active at the Théâtre Français in Paris in 1842-44.

Bia was regarded as one of the greatest actors of her time in the Netherlands.

In June 2000 the painting of Maria Francisca Bia by H.A. Sangster has been partly damaged by a burglary in the Amsterdam Stadsschouwburg, while a bronze mask (1923) was stolen by the famous Amsterdam sculptor Hildo Krop.

• Algemeen Handelsblad, 23-2-1846; 30-11-1868.
• Amsterdamsche Courant, 29-11-1868 [recensie]; 16-7-1889.
• N. Beets, Het dagboek van de student Nicolaas Beets 1833-1836 (Den Haag 1883) 123.
• M.B. Mendes da Costa, Tooneel-herinneringen, 1 (Leiden 1900) 44, 45, 179-181.
• Noord- en Zuid-Nederlandsche Tooneel-Almanak (Amsterdam 1877).
• W.G.F.A. van Sorgen, De tooneelspeelkunst te Utrecht en de Utrechtsche schouwburg (Den Haag 1885).
• Utrechtsch Dagblad, 10-7-1880.
• J.A. Worp, Geschiedenis van den Amsterdamschen Schouwburg (Amsterdam 1920).
• N. van Vulpen, Ondernemers van publieke vermakelijkheden en de opkomst van het burgerinitiatief: vermaak in Utrecht 1850-1880 (Utrecht 1994).