Who Is Nena von Schlebrügge?

Discovered by chance outside school by photographer Norman Parkinson at just 14 years old, she quickly became the most sought-after face in fashion. But this world was too big for the Swedish model, who chose to embrace Buddhism and become a psychotherapist.

In October 1959, the cover of Harper’s Bazaar, photographed by Richard Avedon, featured a blonde, green-eyed model whose face was half-hidden by a peacock feather. This was Birgitte Caroline “Nena” von Schlebrügge , discovered by chance in the 1950s, who quickly conquered the fashion world… before abandoning it just as quickly. Her face is very familiar to fashion enthusiasts, while to newcomers, it might simply seem familiar. Even film buffs should recognize those Nordic, angular features in Uma Thurman, who is none other than the model’s daughter.

Nena was born on January 8, 1941, in Mexico City, the daughter of a European aristocracy uprooted by the war . Her father, Friedrich, a German baron and staunch monarchist, had refused to fight for the Reich and had protected Jewish friends, which led to his imprisonment. It was her Swedish mother, Birgit Holmquist, who, thanks to her neutral citizenship, secured his release and fled with him to Mexico.

Her entry into the world of fashion came a little later, in 1955. Photographer Norman Parkinson was in Sweden searching for new faces. He positioned himself outside a high school in the capital , waiting to meet the girl who would captivate his lens. Among the young women who approached, one immediately stood out  : tall, blonde, with cold, sharp features. The Englishman’s attention was inevitably drawn to her, and the fourteen-year-old seized the opportunity that would make her one of the most adored models of her time. After all, posing was in her blood: the statue of the nude woman overlooking the port of Smygehuk was actually a portrait of her mother.

A few years later, Nena von Schlebrügge was one of the most sought-after models by magazines and designers. She was one of the faces of Yves Saint Laurent’s first collection for Dior , a pivotal moment in fashion history that, after the famous couturier’s death, helped to definitively seal a new beginning. She first settled in London, then in the United States, arriving in New York at seventeen aboard the Queen Mary. All the most famous photographers wanted to work with her. Seeing her in the pages of a fashion magazine, Grace Coddington thought, “She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. “Model Nena von Schlebrugge 60’s.

Yet, at the height of her fame, Nena already seemed to be looking elsewhere. In 1963, she met Timothy Leary , a Harvard psychologist and pioneer of LSD , whose slogan “turn on, tune in, drop out” was already the manifesto of an entire generation. They met at a party at the Millbrook estate in upstate New York, where he conducted his psychedelic experiments. They married the following year in what the press dubbed the “wedding of the year.” A union between the glamorous world of fashion and the burgeoning counterculture, which ultimately lasted only a year.

After her divorce from Leary, the model made a most unexpected decision: in 1967, she married Robert Thurman , a Tibetan Buddhist scholar and former monk. She too converted to Buddhism, and together they started a family. In 1970, Uma Thurman was born from this union , who would bring her striking gaze and high cheekbones to the big screen.

As she gradually withdrew from the public eye, Nena von Schlebrügge embarked on a path to becoming a psychotherapist, dedicating her energy to Tibetan Buddhism. With her husband, Robert Thurman, and alongside Philip Glass and Richard Gere, she founded Tibet House US in New York at the request of the Dalai Lama. Today, she directs the Menla Mountain Retreat, a retreat and wellness center nestled in the mountains of upstate New York, inspired by Tibetan medicine. An eclectic and fascinating journey for a woman who has never ceased to amaze.