Reared on the streets and orphaned at the age of fifteen, Lina Cavalieri learned at a young age to fight for what she wanted. After running away from a convent orphanage, Lina joined a theatrical troupe touring the Italian provinces. She made her way to Vienna and Paris, singing in the outdoor café-concerts. By the time Lina was 20, she sported valuable trophies from half the crowned heads of Europe and anyone else rich enough to suit her tastes.

Cavalieri studied with the top Italian singers of the day and made her public debut in Lisbon in 1900. Unsuccessful at first, she went on to sing a great variety of roles in Europe, Russia and America, eventually appearing in all the great music halls. Renowned as much for her great beauty and fiery temperament as for her light, pleasant, but less than first-class voice, Lina Cavalieri was named "the greatest beauty in the world".

Lina's love life always made good copy-she vowed that she had received 840 proposals of marriage, though she only accepted four. The most prominent of her lovers was Mussolini.

After retiring from the stage, Cavalieri managed her cosmetic salons in Paris. In 1914 she published My Secrets of Beauty. She also contributed beauty tips for a women's magazine called "Femina". Cavalieri had her own beauty concoctions for every part of her body including bizarre cold cream mixtures, which she believed would alleviate wrinkles, keeping her young and beautiful.

While Lina adorned herself with many jewels, especially emeralds, (reported to be the size of pigeon eggs) she was also known for her generosity. She campaigned for orphans and also entertained the French troops during WWI. She went on to become a nurse during WWII, dying in an air raid just outside Florence in 1944.

Today, through her postcards and other vintage media, Lina Cavalieri will forever rein as the Queen of beauty.