Evgenia (Eugenia) Adolfovna Bronskaya (born von Hacke, or in Russian Gakke) (20 January (1 February) 1882 (she also claimed 1884 or 1888), St.Petersburg — 12 October 1953, Leningrad)[1] was a coloratura soprano and later singing teacher.

Her mother, a fine teacher, taught her in her class at a private music school in St. Petersburg between 1897 and 1900; the young singer also learned piano there with F.Czerny.

She performed several more operas with the baritone Maximilian Maksakov who invited her to sing leading roles with his Arcadia Theatre company that summer; she thus sang alongside other upcoming stars like Leonid Sobinov and Feodor Chaliapin.

[4] Following another season in St.Petersburg, this led to Italian tours in the years from 1907 onwards, where she headlined opposite stars such as Titta Ruffo and Giuseppe Anselmi, singing in all the major opera houses.

[1][2] In particular she sang in the first performance of Eugene Onegin at the Teatro La Fenice, Venice, opposite her husband, the baritone Georgi Makarov.

It was also at this time that a famous anecdote was created: she is said to have stepped into the role of Lucia at short notice, knowing nothing but the main set pieces, and therefore having to invent most of the recitative as she went along.