Maria von Trapp, the last
surviving member of the Trapp Family Singers, the itinerant singing group whose
escape from Nazi-occupied Austria inspired “The Sound of Music”, died at the
age of 99 in her Vermont home last Tuesday. According to the Associated Press, Von Trapp was
the last surviving member of the seven Trapp Family Singers, made famous in The
Sound of Music.
The musical children were born to
Austrian Naval Capt. Georg von Trapp and his first wife, Agathe Whitehead von
Trapp, in the Austrian Alps after the family fled fighting from World War I.
The Von Trapps left Nazi-occupied Austria in 1938 and performed concert tours throughout
Europe. They eventually settled in the United States in 1940.
She was famously portrayed as
Louisa in the 1959 Broadway musical and 1965 film The Sound of Music, which won
the Oscar for best picture.
"She was a lovely woman who
was one of the few truly good people," her brother Johannes von Trapp
said. "There wasn't a mean or miserable bone in her body. I think everyone
who knew her would agree with that."
Maria von Trapp played accordion
and taught Austrian dance with her sister Rosmarie at the lodge.
She wrote in a biography posted
on the Von Trapp family's website that she was born in the Austrian Alps after
her family fled fighting from the First World War and that she was surrounded
by music growing up.
"Father played the violin,
accordion and mandolin. Mother played piano and violin," she wrote.
"I have fond memories of our grandmother playing the piano for us after
meals."
Her biography on the website also
said that she worked as a lay missionary in Papua New Guinea.
Rosmarie von Trapp, Johannes von
Trapp and Eleonore Von Trapp Campbell were born to Georg von Trapp and Maria
von Trapp.
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