Lisa's History Room

Carla Bruni and Arno Klarsfeld at a 1995 Gianni Versace show.

First Lady of France Carla Bruni-Sarkozy was raised as the daughter of Italian concert pianist Marisa Borini and industrialist and classical composer Alberto Bruni-Tedeschi. However, in a 2008 interview published in Vanity Fair magazine, Bruni-Sarkozy revealed a bombshell: Her biological father is not really Bruni-Tedeschi.

Carla found out about her illegitimate birth in 1996, at age 28, when her legal father, Bruni-Tedeschi, was gravely ill. He summoned Carla to his deathbed and spilled the long-kept secret:  Genetically, he revealed, Carla was not his daughter. Rather, he went on, she is the love child born of an affair his wife conducted for six years with a man half her age. Carla’s biological father is the Italian-born, Brazilian grocery magnate Maurizio Remmert, who, as a young classical guitarist, met Marisa Borini when the two played in a quintet together.

How did Carla react to the news?

 “It was not a shock, and that is how I knew it was true, because I felt calm when he told me that,” says Carla. “I think lies are toxic for children, much more than a bad truth. Sometimes lies, when you are growing up, make you walk in a funny way to adapt. But I felt relieved. Isn’t it strange? I stopped feeling weird.”

Carla Bruni with mother Marisa Borini

Although Bruni-Tedeschi asked her not to tell her mother of their conversation, Carla did anyway, confronting her mother about a year later, after her father’s death. Her mother confirmed the truth, saying:

“What did you expect me to do? Go into the nursery to announce this to you?”

(That should tell us a little bit about Marisa, the mother….)

Carla Bruni's 2 millionnaire dads: Alberto Bruni Tedeschi (left) said on his deathbed that Maurizio Remmert (right) is Carla's real dad.

In 2008, Carla’s biological dad Remmert broke his 40-year silence on the matter and confirmed that he is Carla’s real dad. Remmert lives in São Paulo, where he is a grocery magnate, and Carla is in frequent contact with him. Since learning the painful truth, Carla has been through years of therapy.

Also check out these related posts:

“Carla Bruni Sings at Nelson Mandela Birthday Concert” and “Carla Bruni, Homewrecker?”