Maria Franziska von Trapp
Maria Agatha Franziska Gobertina von Trapp | |
|---|---|
| File:Mariafranziskavontrapp.jpg Petition for Naturalization, 1948 | |
| Born | 28 September 1914 |
| Died | 18 February 2014 (aged 99) Stowe, Vermont, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Singer and missionary |
| Parent | Georg and Agatha (née Whitehead) von Trapp |
Maria Agatha Franziska Gobertina von Trapp (28 September 1914 – 18 February 2014) was the second-oldest daughter of Georg and Agatha (née Whitehead) von Trapp.[1] She was a member of the Trapp Family Singers, whose lives inspired the musical play and film The Sound of Music. She was portrayed as the character "Louisa". She died at age 99, and was the last surviving sibling portrayed in the film.
Biography
Her siblings were Rupert von Trapp (1911–1992), Agathe von Trapp (1913–2010), Werner von Trapp (1915–2007), Hedwig von Trapp (1917–1972), Johanna von Trapp (1919–1994), and Martina von Trapp (1921–1951). Along with her six siblings, father, and stepmother, Maria Augusta von Trapp, she was part of the Trapp Family Singers, who inspired the 1959 Broadway musical and the 1965 Academy Award-winning Best Picture The Sound of Music. Von Trapp sang second soprano in the choir, together with her sister Martina von Trapp. The family fled Austria after the German annexation of Austria, fearing reprisals resulting from declining to sing at Hitler's birthday party and Georg von Trapp's refusal to accept a commission in the German Navy.[2]
They emigrated to the United States in 1938, settled in Vermont in 1942, and performed throughout the country. Baron von Trapp died in 1947. The family continued to tour and concertize until 1955, at which time Maria von Trapp and her stepmother became lay missionaries in Papua New Guinea. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1948 and lived at her family's lodge in Stowe, Vermont.[3]
From 22 to 27 July 2008, she visited her childhood home in Salzburg/Aigen and her birthplace in Zell-am-See.[4][5] Accompanying her were her half-brother Johannes and her sister-in-law Erika (Werner's widow). During their visit, the group met with Ernst Florian Winter, the husband of her sister Johanna (1919–1994).
She was the last survivor of the seven original von Trapp children. Three half-siblings, from her father's second marriage, Rosemarie von Trapp (born 1929), Eleonore von Trapp (born 1931), and Johannes von Trapp (born 1939), are still alive, but were not featured in The Sound of Music.[6]
Maria Franziska von Trapp died on Tuesday, 18 February 2014 in Stowe, Vermont at the age of 99.[1][7][8][6]
References
- ^ a b "Maria Trapp: Letztes Mitglied der singenden Familie tot". Salzburger Nachrichten (in German). 21 February 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
- ^ Ransom, Candice F. (2002). Maria Von Trapp: Beyond the Sound of Music. pp. 51–55. ISBN 9781575054445.
- ^ Australian School of Pacific Administration Blog entry mentioning her return to the family lodge
- ^ "Sound of Music Villa Opens for Business". New York Times. 29 July 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
Maria von Trapp, 94, the second eldest daughter, center above, with her brother Johannes von Trapp and their sister-in-law Erika von Trapp, was present at the opening on Friday.
- ^ Peterkin, Tom (26 July 2008). "Maria Franziska von Trapp returns to home that inspired The Sound of Music". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 26 December 2008.
Seventy years after fleeing the Nazis, a 93-year-old woman whose family was immortalized in "The Sound of Music" has returned to Austria to visit her former home.
- ^ a b "Maria von Trapp, last of famous singing siblings, dies at 99". CNN. 23 February 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
Maria von Trapp, the last of the singing children immortalized in the movie musical 'The Sound of Music,' died at her Vermont home of natural causes, her half-brother told CNN on Saturday. The native of Austria was 99 and lived in Stowe. She died Tuesday.
- ^ "Maria von Trapp, last member of Sound of Music family, dies". BBC. 22 February 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
The last surviving member of the Trapp Family Singers, the group whose story inspired The Sound of Music, has died at the age of 99, her family say. Maria von Trapp died at her home in Vermont on Tuesday, her brother, Johannes von Trapp, told the Associated Press.
- ^ "Maria von Trapp: last member of family group that inspired Sound of Music dies. Family escaped Nazi-occupied Austria in 1938 and won acclaim throughout Europe for their singing". Associated Press in the The Guardian. 22 February 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
The last surviving member of the famous Trapp Family Singers made famous in The Sound of Music has died at her home in Vermont, aged 99. Von Trapp's brother, Johannes von Trapp, said she died on Tuesday. ...
External links
- 1914 births
- 2014 deaths
- Austrian emigrants to the United States
- People who emigrated to escape Nazism
- People from Zell am See
- Austrian female singers
- American female singers
- Trapp family
- Christian missionaries in Papua New Guinea
- Austrian Christian missionaries
- Female Christian missionaries
- Disease-related deaths in Vermont