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Irma Polak

(June 11, 1875 - November 30, 1931)

The soprano singer and actress Irma Polak was born Marija Fabiani in Ljubljana on June 11, 1875. She was a child out of wedlock and has spent her youth in a monastery school in Škofja Loka. At 16, she started singing and acting at the Ljubljana Theatre, first as a choir member, soon appearing in supporting solo roles. Her singing teachers were Fran Gerbič and Matej Hubad, who raised a whole generation of singers in Ljubljana at the time. An 1894 performance as Denise in Hervé’s operetta Mam'zelle Nitouche, one of her first major roles, brought her much recognition. Composer Charles Weinberger attended one of her performances and arranged for her to be engaged in Vienna the following year. She stayed in Vienna until 1899, singing operettas and comical operas at the Theater a. d. Wien, the Theater in der Josefstadt and the Carltheater. Following a year in Ljubljana, she moved to Zagreb in 1901. There she became one of the best-loved artists. In 1917 and 1918 she starred on the film screen in two of the first Croatian full-length moving pictures Brcko u Zagrebu and Morska pustolovina. The two movies have unfortunately not been preserved to the present day. She was married to the actor and singer Aleksandar Binički. Towards the end of her career, she performed as a dramatic actress and continued her busy stage life until she died in 1931.