The eventful life of Tatjana Patitz: her son was the 'source of my happiness'

Patitz was the 'most haunting of the original supermodels'

The model Tatjana Patitz is dead . Hamburg-born Patitz, who along with colleagues like Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington was one of the most successful supermodels of the 80s and 90s, died on Wednesday at the age of 56 in the US state of California, she said Model agency in New York with the German Press Agency. Her German model agency in Hamburg also confirmed Patitz's death. The thoughts of the entire team are with her family, it said. There was initially no information on the cause of death.

Patitz has graced the front pages of numerous major fashion magazines, appeared in George Michael's famous music video for his hit 'Freedom' and is best known for his photos by star photographer Peter Lindbergh. She was the 'most haunting of the original supermodels,' wrote US Vogue. 'Tatjana was always the European symbol of chic - like Romy Schneider-meets-Monica Vitti,' Vogue boss Anna Wintour was quoted as saying in an article in the magazine on Wednesday. 'She was far less visible than her peers — more mysterious, more mature, more aloof — and that had its own appeal.'

This is how the supermodel grew up

Patitz was born in Hamburg on March 25, 1966 to an Estonian mother and a German father and grew up in Sweden. As a child she was a passionate rider. In the early 80s she took part in a beauty pageant in Sweden and won third place. But it still took some time before her career really took off - mainly thanks to the pictures taken by star photographer Lindbergh. 'People have always said to me that I look special, that I don't look like anyone else,' Patitz once told Vogue. 'And that that's why I would make it.'

Patitz never saw himself as a real part of the supermodel clique. 'It was never a friendship, we lived too different lives,' said the model once to the German Press Agency. Patitz moved to the beach in Malibu, California, and landed a few movie roles as well.

Patitz' son was the 'source of my happiness'

There was always speculation about relationships with Hollywood stars and musicians like Richard Gere, Johnny Depp, Pierce Brosnan or Seal.

From a temporary marriage to a businessman, Patitz had a son named Jonah, whom she once described as 'the source of my happiness.' Above all because of him, she could imagine returning to Germany, she said in an interview a few years ago. “In Europe you can feel a lot more depth. I find Europe to be more authentic, I sometimes miss that. Americans are more shallow.”

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Most of the time, however, Patitz tried to keep her private life out of the public eye. 'When I live my everyday life, I'm completely normal,' the model once said of the German Press Agency. 'When people ask me what I do, I just say I work in 'fashion'. I don't want all that attention. My life is much bigger. I am not my career. I noticed early on where the limit was and I thought: I can't do it now. I am very close to nature, not a city person. You have to be able to delimit that.” (dpa/rsc)