Ella van Heemstra

Ella, Baroness van Heemstra, MStJ (12 June 1900 – 26 August 1984) was a Dutch aristocrat and the mother of the actress Audrey Hepburn.

Spouses:

Jonkheer Hendrik Gustaaf Adolf Quarles van Ufford (1920-1925)

Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston (1926-1939)

Children:

Ian Quarles van Ufford (deceased)

Alexander Quarles van Ufford (deceased)

Audrey Hepburn (deceased)

Parents:

Elbrig Willemine Henriette, Baroness van Asbeck (deceased)

Aarnoud van Heemstra (deceased)

Biography

Ella van Heemstra was a Dutch aristocrat and the third daughter of five of Baron Aarnoud van Heemstra, who was mayor of Arnhem from 1910 to 1920 and served as Governor of Suriname from 1921 to 1928. Ella's mother was Elbrig Willemine Henriette, Baroness van Asbeck (1873–1939), who was a granddaughter of jurist Dirk van Hogendorp. She spent much of her childhood at Huis Doorn.

First marriage

At age nineteen, Ella married Jonkheer (Esquire) Hendrik Gustaaf Adolf Quarles van Ufford (1894-1955), but they divorced in 1925. Ella had two sons from this marriage, who were both born in the Dutch East Indies:

• Jonkheer Arnoud Robert Alexander Quarles van Ufford (1920–1979), married to Maria Margaretha Monné (1919-2006). Have issue;

1. Michael Allan Quarles van Ufford (born 17 July 1945)
2. Evelyn Joye Quarles van Ufford (born 2 August 1947)

• Jonkheer Ian Edgar Bruce Quarles van Ufford (1924–2010), married to Yvonne Scholtens (1928-2000) Have issue;

1. Audrey Yvonne Quarles van Ufford (born 10 May 1954)
2. Sandra Claire Quarles van Ufford (born 15 October 1958)
3. Andrew Ian Quarles van Ufford (born 6 January 1967)

Second marriage

Ella married, secondly, Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston (1889-1980) (later Hepburn-Ruston) on 24 September 1926 at Batavia, Java, Dutch East Indies. Their daughter Audrey Kathleen Ruston, commonly known as Audrey Hepburn, was born on 4 May 1929 in Brussels. She and Joseph Victor Anthony Hepburn-Ruston were divorced on 24 June 1939.

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 Vietnam. When she visited Los Angeles she was entertained by friends like George Cukor, Mrs. Mildred Knopf (wife of Edwin H. Knopf) and Veronique Peck. She spent the rest of her life in her daughter's house in Tolochenaz where she died in 1984. Audrey accompanied her mothers body to the Netherlands for funeral.

Honours

Ella was named Dame of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem by Queen Elizabeth II on 7 September 1971.