Ella van Heemstra
Baroness Ella van Heemstra, (12 June 190026 August 1984) was a Dutch-British aristocrat and the mother of actress Audrey Hepburn. After her marriage to Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston, she became a British citizen. Biography. Ella van Heemstra was a Dutch aristocrat and the third of five daughters of Baron Aarnoud van Heemstra, who was mayor of Arnhem from 1910 to 1920 and served as Governor of Suriname between 1921 and 1928. Ella's mother was Elbrig Willemine Henriette, Baroness (1873–1939), who was a granddaughter of jurist Count Dirk van Hogendorp. She spent much of her childhood  at Huis Doorn. Personal life. Van Heemstra was married and divorced twice, and had three children. Aged 19, Van Heemstra married "Jonkheer" Hendrik Gustaaf Adolf Quarles van Ufford (1894–1955). They divorced in 1925. Van Heemstra had two sons from this marriage, both of whom were born in the Dutch East Indies: Van Heemstra married secondly Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston (1889–1980) (later Hepburn-Ruston) on 24 September 1926 at Batavia, Java, Dutch East Indies. They were divorced on 24 June 1939 and had one daughter: Van Heemstra was an early supporter of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime, penning several articles  in praise of the fascist leader. 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, Switzerland where she died in 1984. Audrey accompanied her mother's 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.