Baroness Sonia Varvara Hasselbalch

Ib Antoni had many exciting collaborations with clients from all over the world – such as Baroness Sonia Varvara Hasselbalch, who was the great-granddaughter of the Russian princess Gagarina and the Danish diplomat in St. Petersburg, Otto von Plessen. Varvara grew up in the huge “Plessen Palace” (now Domus Medica) in Kristianiagade 12 in Copenhagen and was trained as a photographer at d’Ora in Paris and Uggla in Stockholm and in 1943 she opened the photo studio “Varvara Foto” in Copenhagen with a branch in London. Varvara worked during the Second World War for the Danish resistance movement. She smuggled prisoners and letters out of German camps and was also an ambulance driver and later a truck driver for the French Red Cross. The book “Private 5272”, that Varvara wrote about her experiences with the Red Cross, was seized by the Gestapo, but sold illegally as “Varvara’s Cookbook”. After the war, she made photo reports in most of the world and exhibited both abroad and in Denmark. In 2002, she was honoured with the French Order of Honour.

In 1970, Varvara’s had an exhibition and Ib Antoni met with Varvara and then drew the beautiful poster “The Rooster & The Hasselblad“. Varvara was married three times and had a son and lived until his death on Grønningen in Copenhagen with a view of Kastellet.

As Antoni Legacy is constantly working on cleaning Ib Antoni’s beautiful original drawings, one can never know when a new illustration from Antoni’s hand will see the light of day. But when the illustration is ready for reproduction, it is added to the collection on this page, both under Products, Motifs and the client in question for which the illustration is designed. If you have a special interest in, or further knowledge about an Antoni-illustration or an Antoni-customer, you are more than welcome to contact us.

See the products associated with Baroness Sonia Varvara Hasselbalch below.