Maria di Balbi is a fictional character on the German soap opera Verbotene Liebe (Forbidden Love) portrayed by actress Simone Ritscher since 21 January 2009. The character was also known by the alias Maria Galdi and the identity of her late sister Francesca von Lahnstein. She left the series on 7 January 2011. Two months later, on 17 March 2011, the character was killed off off-screen, to the anger of many fans.