Diane von Furstenberg — fashion with roots in the Russian Empire
Diane von Furstenberg. Fashion designer born in Brussels, creator of the wrap dress (1974); daughter of a father born in Bessarabia. Born Diane Halfin in Brussels in 1946. Her father, Leon (Lipa) Halfin, was born in Bessarabia - part of the Russian Empire until 1918 and of Romania after it - and moved to Belgium from Chişinău in 1929; his birth year is not recorded. Her mother, Liliane Nahmias, from Thessaloniki, survived Auschwitz.
"Her father moved from Chişinău to Belgium in 1929 and spent the war in Switzerland."
Migration storyTracing the roots — Bessarabia (father; born in Bessarabia, emigrated from Chişinău, Kingdom of Romania, 1929 - birth year not documented)
Born Diane Halfin in Brussels in 1946. Her father, Leon (Lipa) Halfin, was born in Bessarabia - part of the Russian Empire until 1918 and of Romania after it - and moved to Belgium from Chişinău in 1929; his birth year is not recorded. Her mother, Liliane Nahmias, from Thessaloniki, survived Auschwitz.
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Bessarabia (father; born in Bessarabia, emigrated from Chişinău, Kingdom of Romania, 1929 - birth year not documented). At the time, this region lay within the Russian Empire, which spanned from Poland to the Pacific.
A career defined by ambition
"I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I always knew the woman I wanted to be."