# Nena von Schlebrügge
**Nena von Schlebrügge** (Birgitte Caroline "Nena" von Schlebrügge, born 1941) is a Mexican-born former fashion model of Swedish and German ancestry who worked for Vogue and [Harper's Bazaar](https://www.edgepedia.org/harpers-bazaar) in the late 1950s and 1960s, and the mother of the actress [Uma Thurman](https://www.edgepedia.org/uma-thurman).[1](https://www.vintag.es/2019/11/nena-von-schlebrugge.html) After leaving modeling she became a psychotherapist and devoted her energy to Tibetan Buddhism, helping to found Tibet House in New York.[2](https://georgev.eu/who-is-nena-von-schlebrugge/) • [3](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/nena-von-schlebr--gge.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name and birth | Birgitte Caroline "Nena" von Schlebrügge, born 1941 in Mexico City[1](https://www.vintag.es/2019/11/nena-von-schlebrugge.html) |
| Parents | Birgit Holmquist of Sweden and Colonel Baron Friedrich Karl Johannes von Schlebrügge of Germany[4](https://www.blue17.co.uk/vintage-blog/midcentury-models-nena-von-schlebrugge/) |
| New York debut | Invited by Eileen Ford; arrived on the Queen Mary in a snowstorm in 1958[4](https://www.blue17.co.uk/vintage-blog/midcentury-models-nena-von-schlebrugge/) |
| Principal clients | Vogue and Harper's Bazaar; photographers included Parkinson, Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton, Gleb Derujinsky, Bert Stern, and William Klein[4](https://www.blue17.co.uk/vintage-blog/midcentury-models-nena-von-schlebrugge/) |
| Marriages | Timothy Leary (1964, divorced 1965); Robert Thurman (1967)[5](https://www.gazettedubonton.com/fashionhistory/nenavonschlebrugge) |
| Later career | Program Director, New York Open Center (1991–2002); helped found Tibet House; Managing Director of Menla Mountain Retreat[3](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/nena-von-schlebr--gge.html) |
| Daughter | Uma Thurman, born 1970[5](https://www.gazettedubonton.com/fashionhistory/nenavonschlebrugge) |
## Family background
Nena von Schlebrügge was born in Mexico City in 1941 to German-Swedish parents who had fled [Nazi Germany](https://www.edgepedia.org/nazi-germany).[6](https://blog.pattern-vault.com/2014/05/12/nena-von-schlebrugge-and-uma-thurman/) Her mother, Birgit Holmquist, was Swedish, and her father, Colonel Baron Friedrich Karl Johannes von Schlebrügge, was German.[4](https://www.blue17.co.uk/vintage-blog/midcentury-models-nena-von-schlebrugge/) According to a 2014 report in Svenska Dagbladet drawing on an interview with Uma Thurman, Birgit Holmquist was a model from Skåne who married the German baron and businessman; von Schlebrügge was critical of Nazism, and the couple fled first to Stockholm and then to Mexico, where their daughter Nena was born.[7](https://www.svd.se/a/f126c9c9-f45d-3ce0-90c3-3b60ccee8930/min-drom-ar-ett-svenskt-pass)
Modeling ran in the family. Birgit Holmquist posed for the sculptor Axel Ebbe for the statue *Famntaget* ("Embrace"), a 1930s work depicting a nude woman that stands in the harbor of a small cape at the southernmost point of the [Scandinavian Peninsula](https://www.edgepedia.org/scandinavian-peninsula).[5](https://www.gazettedubonton.com/fashionhistory/nenavonschlebrugge)
## Modeling career
**Discovery and London.** In 1957 she moved from her native Stockholm to London to pursue modeling.[6](https://blog.pattern-vault.com/2014/05/12/nena-von-schlebrugge-and-uma-thurman/) Parkinson photographed her in [Vogue](https://www.edgepedia.org/vogue-magazine) in 1958 wearing a dress by Susan Small, one of the images now sold as prints by the [Norman Parkinson](https://www.edgepedia.org/norman-parkinson) estate.[8](https://www.augustaedwards.com/inc/scripts/image_pdf.php?caption=Norman+PARKINSON%2C+%3Ci%3ENena+Von+Schlebrugge%2C+wearing+a+dress+by+Susan+Small%2C+Vogue%3C%2Fi%3E%2C+1958%3Cbr%3EModern+gelatin+silver+hand+processed+print+on+Ilford+fiber-based+paper%3Cbr%3EPrice+Upon+Request&file_id=16842)
**New York with Ford.** Eileen Ford of the Ford modeling agency invited her to New York, and in 1958 she arrived on the Queen Mary during a heavy snowstorm. She immediately became a regular at Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, photographed by many including [Helmut Newton](https://www.edgepedia.org/helmut-newton) and Gleb Derujinsky.[4](https://www.blue17.co.uk/vintage-blog/midcentury-models-nena-von-schlebrugge/) By 1959 she was the face of Vogue's annual modeling competition.[4](https://www.blue17.co.uk/vintage-blog/midcentury-models-nena-von-schlebrugge/)
**Published work.** Von Schlebrügge appears on a number of Vogue Pattern Book covers and Vogue sewing patterns from the late 1950s and early 1960s, including the cover of the Autumn 1960 issue.[6](https://blog.pattern-vault.com/2014/05/12/nena-von-schlebrugge-and-uma-thurman/) A 1962 studio session by Tom Palumbo for Vogue shows her in a yellow wool jacket by Frechtel with a blue scarf by Echo and jewelry by Brania.[9](https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/model-in-a-yellow-jacket-vogue-tom-palumbo/9AEFm1v5M3PAVw?hl=en) Richard Avedon photographed her for the November 15, 1966 issue of Vogue, and Parkinson photographed her for Life Magazine in 1968.[10](https://pleasurephoto.wordpress.com/category/nena-von-schlebrugge/page/2/) • [4](https://www.blue17.co.uk/vintage-blog/midcentury-models-nena-von-schlebrugge/) In August 1960 she was photographed for Queen magazine wearing a velvet hat by [Pierre Cardin](https://www.edgepedia.org/pierre-cardin), shot from the back in a helicopter over the [Eiffel Tower](https://www.edgepedia.org/eiffel-tower).[11](https://pdpu.edu.ua/images/2024/konferencii/mizhnarodni/evrointegr_u_myst/doc/Konferencijos_tez%C4%97s_2024_03_08.pdf)
## Marriages and family
In 1964 von Schlebrügge married [Timothy Leary](https://www.edgepedia.org/timothy-leary), the psychiatrist later known for his work on psychedelics. The wedding took place at the cottage of William Hitchcock and was captured on black-and-white film by the documentary filmmaker [D. A. Pennebaker](https://www.edgepedia.org/d-a-pennebaker).[5](https://www.gazettedubonton.com/fashionhistory/nenavonschlebrugge) She filed for divorce in 1965, and two years later remarried.[5](https://www.gazettedubonton.com/fashionhistory/nenavonschlebrugge) Her second husband, whom she married in 1967, was [Robert Thurman](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-thurman), a scholar of Tibetan Buddhism described by the same account as the first American to be tonsured as a Buddhist monk by the Dalai Lama; SvD likewise reports that she has been married to Thurman, a researcher in Tibetan Buddhism, since 1967.[5](https://www.gazettedubonton.com/fashionhistory/nenavonschlebrugge) • [7](https://www.svd.se/a/f126c9c9-f45d-3ce0-90c3-3b60ccee8930/min-drom-ar-ett-svenskt-pass)
Their daughter Uma was born in 1970, and Nena von Schlebrügge then left modeling to devote herself to her family.[5](https://www.gazettedubonton.com/fashionhistory/nenavonschlebrugge) Uma Thurman went on to become a film actress, and in a 2014 interview described growing up with a combination of Swedish and Buddhist values.[7](https://www.svd.se/a/f126c9c9-f45d-3ce0-90c3-3b60ccee8930/min-drom-ar-ett-svenskt-pass) The same report notes that von Schlebrügge has always kept her Swedish passport and did not obtain an American passport until that became permitted, about seven years before the article.[7](https://www.svd.se/a/f126c9c9-f45d-3ce0-90c3-3b60ccee8930/min-drom-ar-ett-svenskt-pass)
## Acting
Von Schlebrügge began her acting career with a role in the film *Ciao! Manhattan* in 1967, appearing alongside [Edie Sedgwick](https://www.edgepedia.org/edie-sedgwick). The picture was released about four years after it was made, and her episodes were cut from the final version.[3](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/nena-von-schlebr--gge.html) • [5](https://www.gazettedubonton.com/fashionhistory/nenavonschlebrugge)
## Later career
As she withdrew from public life, von Schlebrügge trained as a psychotherapist and became involved with Tibetan Buddhism.[2](https://georgev.eu/who-is-nena-von-schlebrugge/) She was Program Director at the New York Open Center from 1991 to 2002, helped found and care for Tibet House together with the composer [Philip Glass](https://www.edgepedia.org/philip-glass) and the actor [Richard Gere](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-gere), and has worked as Managing Director of the Menla Mountain Retreat.[3](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/nena-von-schlebr--gge.html)
## References
1. [45 Stunning Photos of Model Nena von Schlebrügge in the 1950s and '60s, Vintage Everyday](https://www.vintag.es/2019/11/nena-von-schlebrugge.html)
2. [Who Is Nena von Schlebrügge?, George V Magazine](https://georgev.eu/who-is-nena-von-schlebrugge/)
3. [Nena von Schlebrügge – Age, Bio, Family, Famous Birthdays](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/nena-von-schlebr--gge.html)
4. [Nena von Schlebrügge – Midcentury Models, Blue 17 Vintage Clothing](https://www.blue17.co.uk/vintage-blog/midcentury-models-nena-von-schlebrugge/)
5. [Nena von Schlebrügge – Supermodel, Mother of Uma Thurman, Gazette du Bon Ton](https://www.gazettedubonton.com/fashionhistory/nenavonschlebrugge)
6. [Nena von Schlebrügge and Uma Thurman, PatternVault](https://blog.pattern-vault.com/2014/05/12/nena-von-schlebrugge-and-uma-thurman/)
7. ["Min dröm är ett svenskt pass", Svenska Dagbladet (2014)](https://www.svd.se/a/f126c9c9-f45d-3ce0-90c3-3b60ccee8930/min-drom-ar-ett-svenskt-pass)
8. [Norman Parkinson, Nena Von Schlebrugge, wearing a dress by Susan Small, Vogue, 1958, Augusta Edwards Fine Art](https://www.augustaedwards.com/inc/scripts/image_pdf.php?caption=Norman+PARKINSON%2C+%3Ci%3ENena+Von+Schlebrugge%2C+wearing+a+dress+by+Susan+Small%2C+Vogue%3C%2Fi%3E%2C+1958%3Cbr%3EModern+gelatin+silver+hand+processed+print+on+Ilford+fiber-based+paper%3Cbr%3EPrice+Upon+Request&file_id=16842)
9. [Model in a Yellow Jacket, Vogue – Tom Palumbo, Google Arts & Culture](https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/model-in-a-yellow-jacket-vogue-tom-palumbo/9AEFm1v5M3PAVw?hl=en)
10. [Nena von Schlebrügge, © Pleasurephoto (Richard Avedon, Vogue November 15, 1966)](https://pleasurephoto.wordpress.com/category/nena-von-schlebrugge/page/2/)
11. [Conference proceedings on Norman Parkinson's fashion photography (Nena von Schlebrügge for Queen, August 1960)](https://pdpu.edu.ua/images/2024/konferencii/mizhnarodni/evrointegr_u_myst/doc/Konferencijos_tez%C4%97s_2024_03_08.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Food, customs, and everyday culture › Clothing, textiles, and domestic crafts › Fashion and commercial models › Fashion and runway models › Pre-1980 fashion models*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 20, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license