How the sisters of Mozart and other famous personalities proved that humanity has lost thousands of gifted women

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

"The Mozart sister effect", in a narrow sense, is a phenomenon when, out of deep prejudice, parents educate their son and do not give or forbid his daughter to receive him with the same giftedness. Often giftedness, as history shows, is shown by the whole family, and not just one person in it, so in a broader sense, the effect is also spoken of in the case when the sister of a genius did not receive attention and education at all, which undoubtedly buried her talent.

Here are just three examples of gifted women whose talent has probably been lost by humanity - and there were probably thousands, if not tens of thousands, of such women before the end of the nineteenth century. Their names remind us how important it is to pay attention to your daughters and respect their natural talents.

Maria Anna Mozart - sister of the composer, songwriter and music performer

The same woman whose name the effect is named after. As a child, her name was first simply Nan (from Anna), then Nannerl (from Nan). Nan sat down at the harpsichord only at the age of seven, and immediately began to show miracles on it. She could perform any melody she heard by ear and come up with a complex arrangement, easily memorized the plays and toured with her little brother in cities and countries, surprising the audience. On these trips, it was also her duty to take care of the everyday comfort of her brother and father.

However, her touring was seen as temporary, her experimentation with music was discouraged, and at eighteen, in order not to discourage suitors, her father ended her music career on his own. While she was a girl, she was considered as a source of income, but they thought about her future in only one way: to marry in such a way that the family would not be ashamed, but better - profitable. Therefore, Wolfgang Amadeus was both encouraged and promoted, and Nannerl, equally gifted, simply performed "alongside", and constantly remembered that she had a different future and destiny.

But even she was not allowed to get married at the behest of her heart. Maria Anna fell in love with a young chamberlain, but her father forbade her to think about marriage with an "unsuitable party." Instead, she was married to an official much older than her, twice a widower, with five children, whom Maria Anna was to take care of. When her husband died to support herself and children (she herself gave birth to three), Nannerl began to give music lessons, but she could no longer or did not dare to tour and lived teaching until old age.

Already becoming an adult and having free time between years of performances and years of marriage, Maria Anna wrote several compositions - and her brother, a genius of music, appreciated them very highly.

Marie Julie Caron - sister of Beaumarchais, poet and musician

Researchers of the legendary playwright and mechanic Beaumarchais draw attention to the fact that his whole family was distinguished not only by excellent relations with each other, but also by common talent. Particularly distinguished were Pierre Augustin himself and one of his sisters, Marie Julie. They were very friendly; Pierre Augustin affectionately called his sister "Bekass" (fool). Perhaps she also found a nickname for him (for example, Pierrot - simultaneously a diminutive of Pierre and a cunning comic character), but before that, biographers had little to do - until recently, they focused on Beaumarchais himself.

Marie Julie, like almost all the children of the watchmaker Caron, played excellently on various musical instruments (remember - her brother improved the harp and gave lessons on playing it to the royal daughters). In addition, she knew many languages (like her brother), wrote poetry and letters very wittily (like her brother), and many researchers of Beaumarchais's work believe that she seriously helped Beaumarchais in his literary works (which does not negate his authorship).

However, according to the norms of that time, all the aspirations of parents were associated with the only son among many of their daughters, and if Pierre Augustin's studies were encouraged in order for him to make a career in the future, then all his sisters were prepared for marriage from an early age. And all the girls were obliged to take care of their only brother, so Pierre was very spoiled - fortunately, this almost did not spoil him, except for the episode when as a teenager he did not come up with anything better than to steal a huge sum from his father's cash register, for which he was severely punished.

Throughout their lives, Julie and Pierre Augustin were very supportive of each other, but Beaumarchais never wondered why, with practically the same talents, his sister did not engage in creativity on her own and did not receive even a fraction of the recognition that he got.

Anna Maria Dali - the artist's sister, a writer who did not become an artist

The Dali family was a very typical Spanish family of their time - the king was the heir son El Salvador, and Anna Maria from childhood was instructed to support him, take care of him (despite the fact that she was younger), devote herself to his talent. It is also known that Salvador hinted that he received literally everything he wanted from Anna Maria - including sexual affection, but whether this was so or his hints were made for the sake of shocking, it is not known for sure.

But it is known for sure that Anna Maria also drew from childhood. However, her family gave her a very specific role in art - to pose for her brother so that he could develop his talent. For Anna Maria, drawing was a hobby - who in general could offer her to make a career as an artist in her strict Catholic environment? But the abilities of Anna Maria were appreciated by Federico Garcia Lorca - he asked her for help in decorating the scenery of his traveling theater.

Although Anna Maria supported Salvador from childhood, he did not respond to her with the same support (it is not surprising that she was struck by the tenderness and friendliness of Don Federico, who treated her very cordially and attentively). In one of the letters he told her: "In my memory you are the best of memories," and this was in very contrast to the letters she received from her brother. In general, Don Federico liked to talk to her, which contrasted very much with the fact that she could not insert a word into her father's conversations with her brother. After the summer spent by Anna Maria, Salvador and Federico, the three of them, the girl saw the great poet only once, seven years later, at his premiere.

Seeing Anna Maria, Federico hurried to greet her, and then, taking her hand, took her away from the theater - from his own premiere! - walk. They talked all night and parted, agreeing to meet again, but never met again. It seems, starting from Don Federico, all the acquaintances highly appreciated Anna Maria, her intelligence and her talents - except for her brother.

Like many of Lorca's friends, Anna Maria suffered from suspicions of supporting the Republicans - she was arrested by gendarmes and beaten and raped in prison. The brother did not express a word of sympathy on this matter. She, meanwhile, plunged into the abyss of depression.

Fortunately, one of her friends found a way out - knowing that Anna Maria writes well, he advised her to start a literary career. The second book of Anna Maria was the answer to the false biography of Dali, where he very ugly exposed his family. This book completely quarreled them.

As an artist, young Anna Maria was fond of decorative style in the spirit of the Catalan artist Maria Girone. Her drawings, however, are almost gone - only a series of leaves with stylized, but quite recognizable plants, which she made shortly before her death. However, she showed herself more as a writer. Who knows who she would be in Lorca's motley and talented company, if by the time she met him she was already seriously engaged in literature, and did not exist only as a shadow of her brother.

I must say that the mother of Salvador and Anna Maria was seriously ill for a long time before her death, and this put the family on the brink of ruin. Anna Maria sold some of Salvador's early works that he had left at home so the family could hold out. This infuriated Dali, and he remembered the sale of his paintings all his life.

In more progressive societies, women have been able to do more for their careers: Who are they - brothers and sisters of Chekhov, Kataev and other famous writers who worked under pseudonyms.