Marie altmann biography book

This book paints a new picture of how Holocaust survivors rebuilt and reclaimed the lives that were taken from them.

In late a friend of Collins's, Tom Trudeau, answered an ad on Craigslist for a caregiver to a year-old woman from Austria who lived in Cheviot Hills, Los Angeles. Trudeau mentioned to Collins he had taken the job, moved into her bungalow on Danalda Drive, and urged him to visit. But Collins was focused on his acting career. A few weeks later, in January , another caregiver quit, leaving Trudeau as the lady's sole caregiver.

The family asked Trudeau if he knew anyone who could immediately fill the vacant position, and he asked Collins again, who eventually agreed to take the job. The lady was Holocaust refugee Maria Altmann. Aside from their day-to-day relationship chronicled in journal-entry-style chapters, the book depicts Maria's childhood in pre-Hitler Vienna as a member of the influential Bloch-Bauer family, and their relationship with the painter Gustav Klimt , who was regularly commissioned by Maria's Uncle Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer to paint portraits of his wife Adele Bloch-Bauer , a prominent Jewish patron of the arts.

In , a year and a half after Altmann's death, Collins published his book to commemorate the 37 months they spent together, meticulously detailing their chance meeting and unusual bond, culminating in Altmann's death in early The book received favorable reviews in the US, [ 7 ] [ 8 ] as well as in the Australian, German and Austrian press.

In a translated version of the book was published in Poland. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects.