DE PHILIPPE (Phillips), EDIS

DE PHILIPPE (Phillips), EDIS (1918–1978), opera singer and founder-director of the Israel National Opera Company. Edis De Philippe was born in New York, and studied singing in the U.S., Italy, and France. At the age of 19 she appeared as Violetta in a gala performance of La Traviata in Washington before President Roosevelt. She went to Palestine in 1945 and set about founding an opera company backed by her own funds. She opened in 1947 with Thaïs, one of her outstanding roles. She continued single-mindedly to present opera regularly both in Tel Aviv and in other centers. From 1950 she devoted herself to production and direction, and added a ballet company in 1958. (Dora Leah Sowden)