Ema Destinnova was one of the greatest, most sought after opera sopranos before WWI. She was born in Prague 1878, sang with legendary Enrico Caruso and among the honours include this:-

Czech Republic (2007) 2000 Koruna banknote - Portrait of Ema Destinnova
note: two horizontal stripes, one below the other
in the top right-hand corner is the blind code

Her career includes 225 appearances in 18 operas in Covent Garden including one of her greatest performances was Giacomo Puccini's "Madame Butterfly" in 1905 where she sang with legendary Enrico Caruso. The peak of her career was at the prestigious New York Metropolitan Opera with 250 stage appearances.

Read more and listen to Ema at Czech Radio.

Also checkout Wikipedia Emmy Destinn