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Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I

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Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Welcome to This Day in History Class, where

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Speaker 1: History waits for no One. Today is September. The day

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Speaker 1: was September. Mexican artist Frieda Callo was involved in a

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Speaker 1: bus accident that she survived with major injuries. The accident

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Speaker 1: changed the course of her life and deeply affected her artwork.

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Speaker 1: Frieda was born in Goyakon, Mexico in nineteen o seven.

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Speaker 1: Her mother was relatively conventional in her worldview, while her

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Speaker 1: father supported her curiosity. Frieda was super close to her father,

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Speaker 1: but she was more distant from her mother, who dealt

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Speaker 1: with depression. When she was young, she had polio, which

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Speaker 1: affected her right leg and gave her a limp. She

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Speaker 1: also developed an interest in art and began sketching. In

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Speaker 1: ninet Frieda began attending the National Preparatory School in Mexico City.

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Speaker 1: Her goal was to study medicine at a university. There,

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Speaker 1: she encountered progressive thought and people in the literary community.

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Speaker 1: She became known as a prankster and she wore indigenous

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Speaker 1: jury and clothing. It was at this school where she

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Speaker 1: met artist Diego Rivera. But on September sev She was

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Speaker 1: headed back home from school on a bus with her

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Speaker 1: boyfriend Alejandro Gomez Audius when the bus ran into a

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Speaker 1: trolley car. Several people were killed immediately in the accident,

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Speaker 1: and Moore died later from their injuries. Adds only had

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Speaker 1: minor injuries, but a piece of iron went through Freda's

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Speaker 1: pelvis and back that had to be pulled out of

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Speaker 1: her body. Her shoulder was dislocated, her collar bone was broken,

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Speaker 1: her right leg was broken in eleven places, and her

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Speaker 1: spine was also broken in several places. She had surgery

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Speaker 1: and stayed in the hospital for a month, then spent

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Speaker 1: several months at home in bed. Over the course of

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Speaker 1: her life, she underwent as many as thirty five operations.

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Speaker 1: Though she aimed to become a medical illustrator, she was

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Speaker 1: in a lot of pain and decided to drop out

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Speaker 1: of school. While she was in recovery, she spent a

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Speaker 1: lot of time painting. Her mother even bought her an

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Speaker 1: easel that helped her paint in bed. She used an

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Speaker 1: overhead mirror to paint self portraits. During this time, her

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Speaker 1: relationship with Audius ended, but photographer Tina Modote introduced her

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Speaker 1: to a community of people involved in art and leftist politics.

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Speaker 1: She soon became reacquainted with Diego Ribera and she joined

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Speaker 1: the Young Communist League, which Rivera founded in nineteen nine.

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Speaker 1: Carlo married Rivera when she was twenty two years old

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Speaker 1: and he was forty two, but their marriage was rocky.

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Speaker 1: They both had affairs, many of Carlos with other women.

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Speaker 1: Frieda and Diego separated, divorced, and remarried. She also had

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Speaker 1: a miscarriage and several pregnancies that were medically terminated. But

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Speaker 1: throughout their turbulent relationship, they continued their artistic practice and

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Speaker 1: continued to express their political views. Frieda's self portraits viscerally

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Speaker 1: depict her pain Her art is known for being dark, emotional,

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Speaker 1: and symbolic. She made most of her artwork in the

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Speaker 1: nineteen thirties and nineteen forties, but she didn't get her

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Speaker 1: first solo show in Mexico until nineteen fifty three. That

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Speaker 1: was years after her first ever solo exhibition in New

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Speaker 1: York City in nineteen thirty eight. She had to be

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Speaker 1: in bed on the opening night of her exhibition in

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Speaker 1: Mexico City, so she went to the show in an

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Speaker 1: ambulance and stayed there in a bed that was set

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Speaker 1: up for her. A few months after this, Frieda's right

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Speaker 1: leg had to be amputated because it was infected with

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Speaker 1: gang green. She died on July thirt nineteen fifty four,

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Speaker 1: officially of pulmonary embolism, though there has been speculation that

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Speaker 1: she died by suicide. There is now a museum in

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Speaker 1: Costa A Sul Frieda's home and goy Ghan. I'm Eve

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Speaker 1: Jeff Coote and hopefully you know a little more about

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Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. If there are any

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Speaker 1: upcoming days in history that you'd really like me to

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Speaker 1: cover on the show, give us a shout on social

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Speaker 1: media at t D I h C podcast. Thanks for

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Speaker 1: joining me on this trip through time. See you here

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Speaker 1: in the exact same spot tomorrow. Yeah. For more podcasts

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Speaker 1: from I Heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.