Bella Chagall

1895–1944

CHAGALL, BELLA ROSENFELD (1895–1944), writer and wife of artist Marc *Chagall. Bella was born in Vitebsk, White Russia, the youngest of eight children of Shmuel Noah and Alta Rosenfeld. Her parents, owners of a successful jewelry business, were members of the ?asidic community and conducted their family life according to Jewish tradition. However, they also sought out secular education and opportunities for their children. Chagall, who was educated in Russian language schools, became a student in the Faculty of Letters at the University of Moscow in her teens; she was particularly interested in theater and art, and as a university student, she contributed articles to a Moscow newspaper. In 1909, while visiting friends in St. Petersburg, she met Marc Chagall; their attraction was instantaneous and they were soon engaged. Although both were from Vitebsk, their social worlds were far apart and the Rosenfelds were unhappy with the engagement. The couple finally married in 1915 and their only child, Ida, was born the next year. In 1922, Marc Chagall moved his family to France. Bella was a constant subject in her husband's art, often represented as a beloved bride. The Chagalls fled to the United States following the outbreak of World War II, arriving in New York in 1941. Bella Chagall died in 1944 in the United States, apparently of a viral infection. Bella Chagall's literary work included the editing and translation of her husband's 1922 autobiography from Russian into French (Ma

9 ספרים במאגר