The Life and Tragedy of Frida Kahlo

  • Frida is born.

    Frida is born.
    Frida Kahlo is born Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderón in Coyoacan, Mexico, a suburb of Mexico City. Her father, Guillermo, was a photographer who had been born in Germany; her mother, Matilda, was Spanish and Native American.
  • Illness strikes Frida.

    Illness strikes Frida.
    Kahlo is stricken with polio, which leaves her with a limp.
  • Frida goes to school!

    Frida goes to school!
    Kahlo enters Mexico's prestigious National Preparatory School. There, she begins to become active in leftist politics.
  • Frida is involved in her first bad accident.

    Frida is involved in her first bad accident.
    Kahlo is involved in a bus accident and sustains serious injuries to her spine, pelvis and right leg. Because of these injuries, she undergoes more than 30 operations during her lifetime.
  • Frida creates her first painting.

    Frida creates her first painting.
    While recovering from the accident, Kahlo begins to paint. About 150 of Kahlo's works have survived, and most of them are self-portraits. Of her work, she says, "I paint myself because I am so often alone, because I am the subject I know best."
  • Frida marries Diego Rivera.

    Frida marries Diego Rivera.
    Kahlo marries Mexican painter Diego Rivera in a civil ceremony.
  • Frida and Diego move to San Francisco from Mexico.

    Frida and Diego move to San Francisco from Mexico.
    Frida and Diego arrive in San Francisco where Diego has been commissioned to paint murals in the Luncheon Club of the San Francisco Stock Exchange and the California School of Fine Arts.
  • Frida and Diego return to Mexico after moving several times.

    Frida and Diego return to Mexico after moving several times.
    Upon their return they move into the double studio-houses in San Angel.
  • Frida and Diego finalize their divorce.

    Frida and Diego finalize their divorce.
    Kahlo and Rivera divorce, after both engaged in several affairs.
  • Frida begins teaching!

    Frida begins teaching!
    On February 28, Frida participates in the "Seminario de Cultura Mexicana" (Seminar of Mexican Culture).
  • Frida's health declines.

    Frida's health declines.
    Kahlo is hospitalized for nine months because of recurring spinal problems. She undergoes a total of 7 operations on her spine during that period. Her hospitalization due in part to a severe infection in her bone grafts. She spends most of the year in the hospital, most nights Rivera sleeps in a room next to hers. When well enough she paints.
  • Frida has her first solo exhibition!

    Frida has her first solo exhibition!
    Kahlo has her first solo exhibition in Mexico; it's the only exhibition held in her native country during her lifetime. Kahlo attends the show on a stretcher; later that year, her right leg is amputated below the knee because of gangrene.
  • Frida dies in her sleep.

    Frida dies in her sleep.
    Many believe her death was caused by embolism; some suggest it was suicide.