Amalia Mignon Hauck (November 16, 1851 – February 6, 1929), was an American operatic soprano

Soprano

A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...

.

She was born in New York City, the only child of James Hauck, a German carpenter, and his American wife. Soon after Minnie's birth the Haucks moved to Providence, Rhode Island

Providence, Rhode Island

Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...

, and then to Sumner, Kansas

Sumner County, Kansas

Sumner County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. The county's population was 24,132 for the 2010 census. Its county seat is Wellington. Sumner County is part of the Wichita, Kansas Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was named in honor of Charles Sumner, a U.S...

 in 1857.

In 1862, Hauk began vocal studies with Achille Errani, who secured her a spot with the operatic company of Max Maretzek

Max Maretzek

Max Maretzek was a Moravian-born composer, conductor, and impresario active in the United States and Latin America.-European career:...

. At age fourteen she made her debut in Brooklyn as Amina in La sonnambula

La sonnambula

La sonnambula is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the bel canto tradition by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ballet-pantomime by Eugène Scribe and Jean-Pierre Aumer called La somnambule, ou L'arrivée d'un nouveau seigneur.The first...

, and a month later, in November, 1866, her New York City debut as Prascovia in L'étoile du nord

L'étoile du nord

L'étoile du nord is an opéra comique in three acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer. The French-language libretto was by Eugène Scribe....

. In the American premiere of Gounod's Roméo et Juliette

Roméo et Juliette

Roméo et Juliette is an opéra in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. It was first performed at the Théâtre Lyrique , Paris on 27 April 1867...

(1867) she sang Juliette. Hauk sang at Covent Garden

Covent Garden

Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, on 26 October 1868, and debuted in Paris in 1869. The soprano then appeared in Italian and German opera at the Grand Opera in Vienna and other venues throughout Europe. Hauk was the first American Carmen

Carmen

Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...

 (1878) and Manon

Manon

Manon is an opéra comique in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost...

 (1885). Her voice became a mezzo-soprano

Mezzo-soprano

A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...

 of great strength and depth. Hauk's enormous repertory included approximately one hundred roles, and she sang Carmen in four languages.

In 1881 she married Ernst von Hesse-Wartegg

Ernst von Hesse-Wartegg

Ernst von Hesse-Wartegg was an Austrian writer and traveller. He completed over 20 works. In 1881 or 1882, he married the opera singer Minnie Hauk.- Works :*Die Werkzeugmaschinen zur Metall- und Holzbearbeitung. Leipzig 1874...

, the Austrian writer and traveller. Much of Minnie's fortune was lost during World War I. By 1918 she was impoverished and nearly blind.