Maria Augusta Kutschera, commonly known as Maria von Trapp, was born on January 26, 1905, in Vienna, Austria. She became famous as the stepmother of the Trapp Family Singers, a musical group that gained international recognition. The family's story was popularized in the musical and film The Sound of Music. Kutschera married Georg von Trapp, a widowed naval captain, in 1927. Together, they had three biological children and adopted several others. The family fled Austria during the rise of the Nazi regime and eventually settled in the United States, where they continued to perform and share their music.