Mimi Coertse dies at the age of 93

Mimi Coertse has died at the age of 93.

The world-famous South African opera singer, Mimi Coertse, has died in Pretoria at the age of 93.

Coertse became an international star in the 50’s and was regarded as one of the best sopranos in the world.

She was born in Durban and grew up in Johannesburg.

Coertse travelled to Austria at a young age to study opera at the famed Vienna Academy.

She made her debut at the Vienna State Opera, performing The Queen of the Night in Mozart’s The Magic Flute; she sang on all the world’s major opera stages, and in 1965, she became the youngest singer to be named in the permanent ensemble of the Vienna State Opera.

The Austrian government honoured her with the title Kammersängerin, one of many accolades she has received in her lifetime.

Coertse returned to South Africa in 1973, and between occasional international performances, she passed on her gifts through teaching, talent search and the ongoing Mimi Coertse Scholarship, which funds South African singers to study opera in Europe.

She was married twice and, with her second husband, Werner Ackerman, adopted two children.