Frida was born to a mixed parentage of, Hungarian Jewish father and a Spanish and Native American mother in Mexico City in 1907. Her chequered life was to be plagued by a series of physical traumas. The first blow came early. At the tender age of six, polio struck the lively young Frida; and it left her with a limp. However that didn’t deter Frida from being a fearless tomboy. Her bold and lively nature made Frida her father's favorite. He nurtured great dreams for her, and in 1922 she was enrolled in the Preparatoria (National Preparatory School), the most prestigious educational institution in Mexico. She was one of only thirty-five girls out of two thousand students.
Diego Rivera
Frida it seems was destined to meet her husband-to-be, Diego Rivera This famous muralist had been commissioned to paint a mural in her school. Kahlo found him fascinating and in her own adolescent ways tried to attract his attention by teasing him, playing practical jokes, and by trying to excite the jealousy of the painter's wife, Lupe Marin.
The Accident
In a pleasant spring morning of 1925, a young Frida Kahlo was riding a bus with her then boyfriend, blissfully unaware of the way her life was going to be tragically changed forever in a few moments. The bus collided with a tramcar, and Frida sustained serious injuries in her right leg and pelvis. This particular accident marked her in more ways than one: the pelvic injury made it impossible for her to have children. The indomitable spirit of Frida, however refused to be bogged down by this and she refused to accept what fate seems to have in store for her- an unfulfilled life. Fighting, what was to be a life long battle against pain in 1926, she painted her first self-portrait. This portrait was the beginning of a long series in which documented the most significant events of her life and her emotional reactions to them.
The Marriage
Kahlo very famously says of her marriage with Diego Rivera: 'I suffered two grave accidents in my life. One in which a streetcar knocked me down... The other accident is Diego.'
Their marriage was an intesely passionate but stormy one tempered by Diego's philandering life style. These two people with fiery temperaments couldn’t live with each other and couldn’t stay apart either. Both had numerous affairs outside marriage and divorced, only to remarry in 1940. The second marriage was also a turbulent one.
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