Dame Nellie Melba, who appears on our $100 note, was born Helen Porter Mitchell in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond on May 19, 1861.
An operatic soprano with a voice described as sparklingly clear, her career would take her across the world, from Russia to America, but she always returned home.
This extraordinary Australian was arguably our first celebrity. While her singing is famed, she was a complex woman who shaped her own career, far more interesting than her culinary namesakes Melba Toast and Peach Melba might suggest.
On her 160th birthday, here are five things you may not know about her.
1. She avidly pursued the perfect portrait