Aahana Swrup
Maria Callas, the celebrated American-Greek Opera Singer, is recognized as one of the most influential voices of the 20th century. In the Netflix film, ‘Maria,’ director Pablo Larraín brings her story to the limelight as he explores the artist’s life and career as she nears her untimely demise. In the film, Angelina Jolie takes on the lead role as Maria Callas, who now lives alone in an apartment in Paris, except for her trusted butler, Ferruccio, and housekeeper, Bruna.
Despite her departure from the operatic stage, the soprano singer continues searching for the return of her singing voice even in the face of mounting health issues. In the process of this soul-searching, Maria also periodically reminisces on her past, highlighting various beats from her career and celebrity. One such instance brings up the rumors surrounding her extramarital affair with Aristotle Onassis and its childless nature. Consequently, the film inevitably highlights the real-life gossip that surrounded Maria Callas’ personal life, particularly the ones about her family matters.
Maria Callas Was Subject to Various Pregnancy Rumors
Maria Callas had been a music student since she was 13 and made her debut as a professional opera singer in 1941 at age 17. In the 1940s and 1950s, her operatic career rose to prominence, inviting international fame and acclaim. However, along with it came scandals, rivalries, and rumors. Her affair with the Greek-Argentine business magnate, Aristotle Onassis—while she was married to Giovanni Battista Meneghini further fuelled the media’s scrutiny of her life. As a result, rumors and gossip of alleged pregnancies attached to her name ran wild.
Some sources suggest that the earliest of these pregnancy rumors surfaced in 1959. Reportedly, Callas responded to these media chatters, saying, “The intrusion into my private life has now reached an unprecedented and intolerable level. The allusion to my being pregnant has absolutely no basis in truth. I am now considering legal action against the persons responsible for the publication of this false report.” However, the more extreme theories arrived after her unfortunate death in 1977.
Many believed Callas’ affair with Onassis led to a pregnancy that was aborted. Another whispered story alleges that Callas gave birth to her and Onassis’ son. However, the rumor suggests that the child died shortly after his birth. On the other hand, common beliefs persisted that Callas was actually infertile or that Meneghini was otherwise keeping her from becoming a mother. Ultimately, the truth behind these rumors has been a subject of discussion for years, with many debunking the threads that have led to these conclusions. As such, for the most part, it remains another mystery of Callas’ otherwise equally intriguing life. As the record officially stands, the Opera Singer never had any children.
Nicholas Gage’s Biography Suggests Callas Had a Son With Onassis
In 2000, Nicholas Gage published his book, ‘Greek Fire: The Story of Maria Callas and Aristotle Onassis,’ a biography that detailed the titular relationship. In his book, Gage confidently shares his belief that Callas gave birth to her and Onassis’ son. He claims that the Opera Singer was pregnant in the early 1960s and gave birth in March of the same year. In his book, the author maintains that Callas and Onassis kept the pregnancy a secret from the world and their inner circle. Nonetheless, over time, many have pointed out that this would have been impossible due to Callas’ existence as a public figure in the media’s limelight. As the records show, she attended a premiere in February of the same year in Milan’s Teatro Capitol, sporting no flowy clothes or a baby bump.
Furthermore, many have also contested Gage’s claims that Callas gave birth to a child named Omero Lengrini, who died a few hours after his birth. As per To Vima, a Greek newspaper, Lyndsy Spence disproves Omero Lengrini’s connection to Callas and Onassis. Spence is another author who biographies the Opera Singer’s life in ‘Cast a Diva: The Hidden Life of Maria Callas.’ She claims that while Omero Lengrini was a real baby born in Milan’s Clinica Dezza, he was the illegitimate child of an unmarried teenage girl. Thus, Spence maintains the belief that Gage’s claims of a secret love child are untrue.
A different belief remains that Callas was indeed pregnant with Onassis’ child in 1960 when she was still married to Meneghini. However, she is said to have miscarried that child. Allegedly, she underwent another miscarriage in 1963. Ultimately, Callas’ experiences with pregnancy were a deeply personal part of her life that the media and the public could only speculate upon. Pablo Larraín and his screenwriting partner, Steven Knight, did extensive research for ‘Maria’ and chose to depict the central character’s story in a certain way. The film disproves beliefs that the choices around children in Callas’ life were made by others in her life. Thus, the on-screen narrative establishes that Callas never had children simply as an unavoidable complication of life.
Read More: Yakinthi “Jackie” Callas: What Happened to Maria Callas’ Sister?
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