Ella van Heemstra
Baroness Ella van Heemstra, was a Dutch aristocrat and the mother of actress Audrey Hepburn.
Biography
Ella van Heemstra was a Dutch aristocrat and the third of five daughters of Baron Aarnoud van Heemstra, who was mayor of Arnhem from 1910 to 1920 and served as Governor of Suriname between 1921 and 1928. Ella's mother was Elbrig Willemine Henriette, Baroness van Asbeck, who was a granddaughter of jurist Count Dirk van Hogendorp. She spent much of her childhood at Huis Doorn. German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm purchased Huis Doorn, and moved in on 15 May 1920. This was to be his home until his death in June 1941.Van Heemstra had Dutch and small amounts of English ancestry.
Personal life
Van Heemstra was married and divorced twice, and had three children.Aged 19, Van Heemstra married Jonkheer Hendrik Gustaaf Adolf Quarles van Ufford. They divorced in 1925. Van Heemstra had two sons from this marriage, both of whom were born in the Dutch East Indies:Jonkheer Arnoud Robert Alexander Quarles van Ufford, married to Maria Margaretha Monné, with issue:
- Michael Allan Quarles van Ufford
- Evelyn Joyce Quarles van Ufford Jonkheer Ian Edgar Bruce Quarles van Ufford, married to Yvonne Scholtens, with issue:
- Audrey Yvonne Quarles van Ufford
- Sandra Claire Quarles van Ufford
- Andrew Ian Quarles van Ufford
- Audrey Kathleen Ruston, commonly known as Audrey Hepburn
Later life
In the early 1960s she lived in Los Angeles with her friend Leonard Gershe, and then later in San Francisco, where she did volunteer work for soldiers coming back from the Vietnam War.When she visited Los Angeles she was entertained by friends like George Cukor, Mrs. Mildred Knopf and Veronique Peck. She spent the rest of her life in her daughter's house in Tolochenaz, Switzerland where she died in 1984. Audrey accompanied her mother's body to the Netherlands for funeral.