Earlier Years
She was the daughter of Anton Reiß (Reiss), a prosperous Viennese upholsterer. Her mother was the daughter of a wine merchant and local mayor.
She was accused of theft by her parents in 1804, an event that would later play a role in her lawsuit with Beethoven.
On 25 May 1806 she married Kaspar Anton Karl van Beethoven, younger brother of Ludwig. Their only child, Karl van Beethoven, was born about three months later, on 4 September of the same year.
Read more about this topic: Johanna Van Beethoven
Famous quotes containing the words earlier and/or years:
“I love art, and I love history, but it is living art and living history that I love.... It is in the interest of living art and living history that I oppose so-called restoration. What history can there be in a building bedaubed with ornament, which cannot at the best be anything but a hopeless and lifeless imitation of the hope and vigour of the earlier world?”
—William Morris (1834–1896)
“Lonesome? God, no! From the day the kids are born, if it’s not one thing, it’s another. After all those years of being responsible for them, you finally get to the point where you want to scream: “Fall out of the nest already, you guys, will you? It’s time.””
—Anonymous Mother of Four. As quoted in Women of a Certain Age, by Lillian B. Rubin, ch. 2 (1979)