Kawecka Wiktoria, Wielogłowska, *3 March 1875 Warsaw, †22 January 1929 Warsaw, Polish operetta singer (soprano) and actress. She was educated by B. Dowiakowska and H. Majeranowska. She made her debut on 14 February 1893 in Millöcker’s The Merry Two at the Mały Theatre in Warsaw and was immediately hired by L. Śliwiński to join the Government Theatre Complex. At first, she was given only secondary roles, but her talent was quickly noticed by critics and the young artist began to receive bigger roles, and her performances in The Lottery Bride by A. Messager, Geisha by S. Jones and La Bella Galatea by F. Suppé (1898) caused her being awarded the title of prima donna. After the opening of the Nowości Theatre in Warsaw in 1901, she became a member of the leading Polish operetta stage. In 1906, she played the title role for the first time in Lehár’s The Merry Widow, and in 1908 – in Die Försterchristl by Jarno, which roles were later considered among her greatest achievements, alongside Eurydice in Offenbach’s Orpheus in Hell and Countess Maritsa in Kálmán’s operetta. In 1910, she went on a guest appearance to Ostend and then to St. Petersburg, where she stayed for 9 years, singing in the Cristal Palace theatre; she also visited Moscow, Kyiv and Odesa and recorded albums. In 1919, she returned to Warsaw, re-engaging with the Nowości Theatre. In 1921, she opened her own Vaudeville theatre, but after a year she gave up this venture and left the stage, only occasionally giving guest performances in Warsaw, Pomerania and Vilnius, where she eventually settled permanently.
Kawecka was endowed with a beautiful, strong voice, she also mastered the art of whistling (in F. Suppé’s operetta Zehn Mädchen und kein Mann, she whistled Mascagni’s Siciliana and one of Chopin’s mazurkas), and was also distinguished by her beauty and elegance. She went down in history as one of the greatest European stars of old-style operetta. She was buried at the Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw, in the family grave of her husband Bolesław Wielogłowski.
