Maaria Eira (real name Saskia D’Onofrio, née Suomalainen; 23 October 1924 – 19 June 1999) was a Finnish operatic soprano and film actress noted for her coloratura voice and stage presence.

[1][2] In the early 1950s, she married the Italian doctor Giovanni D'Onofrio, taking his name and settling in his home city of Rome.

[1] Early on, however, she switched to singing, first training in Finland under Olavi Nyberg [fi], furthering her studies from 1948 until 1950 at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm, and from 1950 continuing under the tutelage of the renowned Italian soprano Toti Dal Monte.

[1][3] Her repertoire comprised leading roles of the 19th-century opera, including Violetta in La traviata, Desdemona in Otello, Margareta in Faust and Leonora in Il trovatore.

[1] She later went on to direct Aida at Macerata (1982) and Lucia di Lammermoor in Bari (1985), followed among others by productions of La bohème and Madama Butterfly.