Maria Ilva Biolcati, OMRI, known as Milva, was an Italian singer, stage and film actress, and television personality. She was also known as La Rossa, due to the characteristic colour of her hair, and additionally as La Pantera di Goro, which stemmed from the Italian press having nicknamed the three most popular Italian female singers of the 1960s, combining the names of animals and the singers' birthplaces. The colour also characterised her leftist political beliefs, claimed in numerous statements. Popular in Italy and abroad, she performed on musical and theatrical stages the world over, and received popular acclaim in her native Italy, and particularly in Germany and Japan, where she often participated in musical events and televised musical programmes. She released numerous albums in France, Japan, Korea, Greece, Spain, and South America.
She collaborated with European composers and musicians including Ennio Morricone in 1965, Francis Lai in 1973, Mikis Theodorakis in 1978, Enzo Jannacci in 1980, Vangelis in 1981 and 1986, and Franco Battiato in 1982, 1986 and 2010.
Her stage productions of Bertolt Brecht's recitals and Luciano Berio's operas toured the world's theatres.