On December 19, 1746, Maria Magdalena Keverich, Beethoven's mother, was born. Her father was a Court cook. In 1763, when she was 17 years old, she married a valet from another Court by the name of Johann Laym, who died two years later.
In 1767, the young widow was married again, this time to Johann van Beethoven. Of course, the "Kappelmeister" had great difficulty in agreeing that his son marry a widow of a much lower social status than his own. However, once he became better acquainted with her, they became close friends.
Maria and Johann's first son, Ludwig, was born in 1769, but he died six days after his birth.
