20 Amazing Polyglots in History That Most People Didn't Know About

1. Audrey Hepburn surprised many people with her knowledge of different languages, but such a skill was hardly surprising given her childhood and family background

Audrey Hepburn regularly tops lists of the most beautiful Hollywood actresses of all time. But the icon was far more than just a pretty face. She was well-read, well-traveled and highly intelligent. What’s more, thanks to her family background, she was a polyglot. According to most accounts, Hepburn was fluent in six languages, namely English, Dutch, French, Spanish, German and Italian, even if she most definitely used some far more than others.

The star of Breakfast at Tiffany’s was born in Belgium to a British businessman and a Dutch baroness. As a child, she grew up bilingual, learning to master Dutch and English before she even started school. As befitted a young girl of her social standing, she was sent to a private school in Belgium, allowing her to pick up French as well. Hepburn and her mother returned to the Netherlands during the Second World War. The actress once recalled how she spoke Dutch rather than English on the streets of her home city so as to avoid any unwanted attention from the German occupiers.

In later life, Hepburn got married for a second time to Italian psychiatrist Andrea Dotti. The couple were together for 13 years (even if both parties enjoyed affairs) and had a child together. This relationship allowed her to spend many summers in Italy. Since she was adept at learning languages and had strength in Romance languages, she was able to learn her husband’s native tongue relatively easily. Even if some critics argue that her abilities in Spanish and German may have been exaggerated over the years – indeed, there’s relatively little evidence to suggest she was fluent in the former tongue – Hepburn was undoubtedly a skilled linguist as well as being one of the greatest Hollywood icons of her generation.