“Nothing is impossible the word itself says 'I'm possible'!” (Audrey Hepburn Quotes). These words said by Audrey Hepburn simply explain her life. Audrey was a strong and powerful woman who achieved great success in her lifetime. She persevered through the good and bad times in her life, and therefore became stronger because of it.
People say that your childhood affects the rest of your life, more than any other time period. This was clearly true for Audrey. Audrey Hepburn, originally Audrey Kathleen Ruston, was born on May fourth, 1929 at number 48 Rue Keyenveld in Ixelles, a municipality in Brussels, Belgium (Audrey Hepburn). Audrey would not know it yet, but her parents would be a great influence in her life and impact the choices she made.
Audrey’s mother was named Ella van Heemstra. She was a Dutch aristocrat of high class, born in 1900. She was the third daughter of five Baron Aarnoud van Heemstra, who was the mayor of Arnhem from 1910 to 1920 (Heemstra, Aarnoud Jan Anne). She spent a lot of her time at Huis Doorn when she was a child. It was a small manor house near the town of Doorn in the Netherlands. Ella also served as Governor of Suriname from 1921 to 1928. This led her on a path to be named Dame of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem. She was named this by Queen Elizabeth II on September seventh, 1971 (Audrey Hepburn). Because of Ella’s significant accomplishments, she had a great influence on Audrey.
Audry’s father, Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston, was a British man born in 1889 in Úžice, Bohemia. Even though he was born in Bohemia, he was still a British subject. Audrey’s father was a true Nazi sympathiser (Audrey Hepburn). Audrey’s parents were supportive and caring, until things became complicated for her family. They did not know it, but eventually things would turn for a downward spiral.
Audrey’s parents, Ella and Joseph Ruston, were a happy couple. They both were previously married prior to uniting in marriage with one another. Ella and Joseph married in the Dutch-Colonial Batavia, Dutch East Indies in September 1926 (“Audrey Hepburn”). After they got married, they moved back to Europe, to Ixelles in Belgium. Then in 1929, Audrey Hepburn was born. In Audrey’s early childhood, the family’s struggles began. Six years after Audrey was born, Joseph was found in bed with the nanny by his wife Ella. He immediately left his home and family. Hepburn still tried to stay in contact with her father, but they struggled to continue their relationship. Following this in 1938, Ella and Joseph formally divorced (“AH Timeline”). The marriage ended at the time that World War II was just brewing.
During World War II Audrey’s life became crazy. Even before the war, Hepburn’s parents were members of the British Union of Fascists in the mid-1930s (Audrey Hepburn). Then after her parents separated, Ella and Audrey moved to Kent, South East England, where Audrey was educated in a tiny independent school in Elham (Audrey Hepburn). Then, Britain declared war on Germany and Ella decided to move back to Arnhem, in the Netherlands. Later, Audrey’s mother would regret this decision.
During the war, Audrey Hepburn lost everything including property, jewelry, securities, and even her half brother Ian. Ian was deported to Berlin to work in a German labour camp. Audrey’s other half brother was so scared that he went into hiding to avoid the same fate. While this was happening, Audrey suffered from malnutrition, developed acute anæmia, respiratory problems, and œdema (Audrey Hepburn). In 1942, Audrey’s uncle along with four others were executed by the Nazis purely for publicity and retribution for a Dutch underground attempt to blow up a train (AH Timeline). Audrey witnessed other such reprisals in Arnhem: "We saw young men put against the wall and shot, and they'd close the street and then open it and you could pass by again...Don't discount anything awful you hear or read about the Nazis. It's worse than you could ever imagine." (AH Timeline). Yet, there was more to come for young Audrey.
