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Agathe Gobertina von Trapp (née Whitehead; 14 June 1891 – 3 September 1922) was a British-Austrian heiress and aristocrat. She was the first wife of Georg Ritter von Trapp and the mother of seven children of the
Trapp Family singers The Trapp Family (also known as the von Trapp Family) was a singing group formed from the family of former Austrian naval commander Georg von Trapp. The family achieved fame in their original singing career in their native Austria during the in ...
.


Early life and family

Whitehead was born on 14 June 1891 in
Fiume Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and in 2021 had a po ...
, the first daughter and third child of John Whitehead and Countess Agathe Gobertina von Breunner-Enckevoirth. Her father, a British engineer who had been made a knight of the
Order of Franz Joseph The Imperial Austrian Order of Franz Joseph () was founded by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria on 2 December 1849, on the first anniversary of his accession to the imperial throne. Classes The order was originally awarded in three classes: ''G ...
, was the son of Robert Whitehead, namesake of the
Whitehead torpedo The Whitehead torpedo was the first self-propelled or "locomotive" torpedo ever developed. It was perfected in 1866 by British engineer Robert Whitehead from a rough design conceived by Giovanni Luppis of the Austro-Hungarian Navy in Fiume. I ...
. Her mother, an amateur architect and pianist, was a member of the
Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...
and
Hungarian nobility The Kingdom of Hungary held a Nobility, noble class of individuals, most of whom owned landed property, from the 11th century until the mid-20th century. Initially, a diverse body of people were described as noblemen, but from the lat ...
. Through her father,She was a niece of the diplomat Sir James Beethom Whitehead, who served as the British Minister to
Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
, and a first cousin of Sir Edgar Whitehead, who served as Prime Minister of
Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...
. Through her mother, she was the niece of Countess Marie von Breunner-Enckevoirth, the wife of Victor II, Duke of Ratibor and Prince of Corvey, and the niece of Countess Eleonore von Breunner-Enckevoirth, the wife of Karl Maria Alexander, 9th Prince of Auersperg. Her maternal cousin, Princess Agathe of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, was the wife of Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia. Whitehead grew up at Villa Whitehead, a palatial home near the
Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...
. Her family was closely linked with the Austrian imperial family and, shortly after her birth, Emperor
Franz Joseph I Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...
visited the family's home and torpedo factory in Fiume. Fluent in English, German, and Italian, she was educated at home by tutors and was given piano, violin, and voice lessons. Her father died in 1902 from stomach cancer. From that time on, Whitehead's mother raised her and her five siblings and the management of the torpedo factory passed to a paternal relative. After the family spent a summer at
Lake Zell Lake Zell (; ) is a small freshwater lake in the Austrian Alps. It takes its name from the city of Zell am See, which is located on a small delta protruding into the lake. The lake is long and across at its widest. It is up to 73 metres deep ...
in the Austria Alps, Whitehead's mother built Erlhof, a waterfront house which became the family's summer residence.


Later life

On 10 February 1909, Whitehead christened the Austrian submarine '' SM U-5''. A celebratory ball was held later that evening, where she was introduced to Georg Ritter von Trapp, a nobleman and naval officer who would eventually be assigned to command ''SM U-5''. Shortly afterward, he was invited to vacation with the Whiteheads at Erlhof. After a two-year courtship, Whitehead and von Trapp were married on 14 January 1911 in a Catholic ceremony at the Austro-Hungarian Naval Academy's chapel. After their wedding, the couple moved into the von Trapp family's villa in Pola, near the Austro-Hungarian Navy's submarine base. She gave birth to a son, Rupert, in 1911 and a daughter, Agathe, in 1913.Social Security Death Index as "Rupert Vontrapp" 1 November 1911 – 22 February 1992; 05672 (Stowe, Lamoille, VT); 127-14-1082; Social Security issued in New York After the
assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was one of the key events that led to World War I. Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg ...
in 1914 and the start of the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, Whitehead's family's assets overseas were frozen and they were not permitted to leave the country. All non-military personnel were ordered to evacuate from Fiume and Pola, and Whitehead took her children to
Zell am See Zell am See is the administrative capital of the Zell am See District in the Austrian state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg. Located in the Kitzbühel Alps, the town is an important tourist destination due to its Ski resort, ski resorts and shorel ...
to stay with her mother and siblings at Erlhof while her husband stayed behind to serve as a naval commander. Her husband was only permitted to see the family while on furlough, and spent the war captaining two submarines, patrolling the
Strait of Otranto The Strait of Otranto (; ) connects the Adriatic Sea with the Ionian Sea and separates Italy from Albania. Its width between Punta Palascìa, eastern Salento, and Karaburun Peninsula, western Albania, is less than . The strait is named after ...
. Her brother, John Whitehead Jr., and brother-in-law, Werner Ritter von Trapp, both died during the war. Throughout the war, she contributed her time to the war effort by knitting clothes and rolling bandages for the soldiers and visiting the wives of Naval personnel in their community. During this time she gave birth to three more children, Maria Franziska,
Werner Werner may refer to: People * Werner (name), origin of the name and people with this name as surname and given name Fictional characters * Werner (comics), a German comic book character * Werner Von Croy, a fictional character in the ''Tomb Rai ...
, and Hedwig. When the war ended, and the
Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...
fell, the family were granted Italian citizenship since
Zara Zara may refer to: Businesses * Zara (retailer), a fashion retail company based in Spain * Zara Investment Holding, a Jordanian holding company * Continental Hotel Zara, Budapest, Hungary People and fictional characters * Zara (name), primari ...
, where Georg von Trapp was born, was annexed to the
Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...
. Whitehead gave birth to another daughter at Erlhof,
Johanna Johanna is a feminine name, a variant form of Joanna that originated in Latin in the Middle Ages, including an -h- by analogy with the Latin masculine name Johannes. The original Greek form ''Iōanna'' lacks a medial /h/ because in Greek Spiritus ...
. The family moved to
Klosterneuburg Klosterneuburg () is a town in the Tulln District of the Austrian state of Lower Austria. Frequently abbreviated to Kloburg by locals, it has a population of about 27,500. The Stift Klosterneuburg ( Klosterneuburg Monastery), which was establish ...
, where Whitehead gave birth to another daughter, her last child, Martina. In 1921 the family attended the wedding of Whitehead's sister, Mary, to Baron Gioacchino Pietro Malfatti di Montetretto. Later that year a
scarlet fever Scarlet fever, also known as scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'', a Group A streptococcus (GAS). It most commonly affects children between five and 15 years of age. The signs and symptoms include a sore ...
epidemic hit the schools in Klosterneuburg, and the children were infected. By Christmas 1921, five of the von Trapp children were isolated in the home. Whitehead spent extra time caring for her youngest daughter, Martina, who was faring worse than the other children. By the middle of January 1922, Whitehead had also fallen ill and was sent to a hospital in Vienna. She stayed at the hospital for seven months but never fully recovered. She was released from the hospital and went with her family to vacation in the Hungarian countryside, hoping that it would improve her health. Seven days after returning home, on 3 September 1922, she died.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehead, Agathe 1891 births 1922 deaths People from Rijeka Agathe Austrian nobility Agathe Austrian people of English descent Austrian people of Hungarian descent Austrian women in World War I English people of Austrian descent English people of Hungarian descent People from the Kingdom of Dalmatia