> i have never heard the 'tape worm' story > before. did she know she > had it? did she do her best to get rid of it
I believe this story can be traced to the book "Maria Callas: My Wife," written by her ex-husband Meneghini (if I spelled that wrong, forgive me). He claims that her weight loss was completely involuntary and effortless and was caused by her losing a tapeworm (which she only discovered upon passing it, according to him).
This book is VERY suspect in many aspects; for one, she had very publically abandoned him for Onassis (whom Meneghini claims she never loved) and he was very clearly attempting to paint himself in a sympathetic and pitiful light; for another, there are numerous inaccuracies in this book, ranging from her performances to childhood stories refuted by other friends. The tapeworm story is not given very much weight by the majority of critical scholars at this point, from what I have read.
But the book is good for another viewpoint of Callas, even though much of it is thought to have been made up (due to a combination of wishful thinking and hurt revisionist history on the part of the jilted husband). The picture it paints of Meneghini, still in love with Callas years after her death, victimized by circumstance, deeply injured and misunderstood by the cruel world, is rather pathetic.
Isabelle B.
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