Suze Rotolo

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Suze Rotolo (2009)

Susan Elizabeth "Suze" Rotolo (born November 20, 1943 in Brooklyn , New York , † February 25, 2011 in Manhattan ) was an American artist, political activist and author. She was dating Bob Dylan from 1961 to 1964 (at the time of his breakthrough) and apparently had a strong influence on his songs at the time. She became known for the cover photo of Dylan's second studio album The Freewheelin 'Bob Dylan , which shows the two arm in arm walking on a wintry street in New York.

Life

Rotolo, who grew up in Queens , was of Italian-American descent. Her parents, Joachim Rotolo and Mary Pezzati Rotolo, were members of the Communist Party . In 1961 she graduated from Bryant High School in Queens.

She was also politically active and became an activist for the civil rights organization CORE and the anti-nuclear weapons group SANE (Peace Action) . She lived with her sister Carla in the booming New York bohemian neighborhood of Greenwich Village , where Dylan first saw her. In July 1961, the two met at a folk concert in Riverside Church . They lived together from the spring of 1962, but Dylan's growing notoriety became increasingly a burden. In June 1962 Rotolo left New York for a semester abroad in art at the University of Perugia in Italy . Dylan processed the temporary separation in the songs Don't Think Twice, It's Alright , Tomorrow Is a Long Time , One Too Many Mornings and Boots of Spanish Leather .

Rotolo's political views and her knowledge of art and literature greatly influenced Dylan's songwriting during this period. Through them he began to be interested in the poems of Arthur Rimbaud , the theater by Bertolt Brecht and painting. In her autobiography, Rotolo reports that she became pregnant by Dylan in 1963 but had an abortion performed. In August 1963, she left their home and moved back to live with her sister. In 1964, the relationship with Dylan, who described the breakup in the song Ballad in Plain D , finally broke up .

In mid-1964, Suze Rotolo traveled to Cuba , violating the US embargo . In 1967 she married the Italian Enzo Bartoccioli, who worked for the UN as a film editor . There is a son from marriage. The couple lived in Italy until the early 1970s . Then Rotolo worked as an illustrator and painter. She dealt with object art and the design of artist books . She remained politically active and was involved, for example. B. in the satirical street theater group Billionaires for Bush . She also took part in the 2004 protest against the Republican Convention in Manhattan . She mostly avoided talking about her relationship with Dylan, and was occasionally interviewed for a documentary about Dylan. She appears in Martin Scorsese's documentary No Direction Home - Bob Dylan , which illuminates Dylan's rise from 1961 to 1966. Published in 2008 Rotolo her autobiographical book A Freewheelin 'Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties (As the times change began: memories of Greenwich Village in the Sixties , German edition 2010), which was a bestseller in the United States.

Suze Rotolo died in Manhattan on February 25, 2011, according to her husband, of complications from lung cancer.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Freewheelin 'Bob Dylan. BobDylan.com, accessed April 19, 2012 .
  2. ↑ a b c d William Grimes: Suze Rotolo, a Face, With Bob Dylan, of '60s Music, Is Dead at 67. The New York Times , March 1, 2011, accessed May 24, 2011 .
personal data
SURNAME Rotolo, Suze
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rotolo, Susan Elizabeth (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American artist, political activist, and author
DATE OF BIRTH November 20, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn , New York
DATE OF DEATH February 25, 2011
Place of death Manhattan