Antoinette V. Bruce Biography


	This biography appears on pages 931-932 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. IV (1915) and was 
	scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				ANTOINETTE V. BRUCE. 

	It is often said that death loves a shining mark an expression 
that found verification when Miss Antoinette V. Bruce passed away in 
Portland, Oregon, on the 18th of September, 1914. South Dakota was 
proud to number her among those who have stood for art culture in the 
state. She began her musical education at Yankton College and afterward 
became a music student in the University of South Dakota. It was 
recognized that her talents were of superior order and for their 
further cultivation she went abroad, studying at Leipzig. Germany, and 
also spending six years under the instruction of famous masters in 
Milan and Florence. 

	While pursuing her studies abroad Miss Bruce attracted the 
attention of the best known artists of Europe. She was accorded the 
distinction of being the only American legally acknowledged as the 
representative of the old Maestro Leoni, having been given a 
certificate stamped and registered by the Italian government and the 
American consul at Milan. She also received flattering testimonials 
from such famous masters as Maestri Sabatine, Castellano, Braglia and 
Madame Bonade and Herr Bruno Zavintscher. She was offered a 
professoressa of a conservatory to be opened in the fall of 1914 at 
Nottingham, England, under the auspices of the Duke of Portland. Just 
before her death, Miss Bruce completed arrangements for accepting a 
position to appear during the winter in the prima donna roles of "Il 
Trovatore" and "Cavalleria Rusticana" in a tour of Italy. It was with 
the deepest regret that the news of the death of Miss Bruce was 
received in Yankton and throughout the state wherever she was known, 
while her passing was a distinct loss to the artist world, as to few 
are given the marvelous powers and ability which she displayed.