Maria Llabrés

Maria Llabrés

Maria Llabrés

Well no, actually, the picture is not of Maria Llabres, but her daughter Joan. And aren't our children a reflection of ourselves in a younger time?

Majorca 1895

Maria Llabrés was born in 1895 on the island of Majorca. Her parents ran a hotel, whose name is lost to posterity, in the resort of Soller. The port of Soller and nearby city of the same name, lie on the southern coast of Majorca. The city is nestled in a wooded valley, famous for its oranges and ancient olive groves.Curious as to what Soller looks like, check out  this blog.

Though the name of the Llabrés family hotel is lost, there is a Fonda Llabrés Hotel in Soller, just off of the main plaza. The hotel is run by the Llabrés family.

Porto Soller Mallorca

Image posted on the internet by several users.

Watch an amusing video on Majorca (Mallorca).

A postcard tour of Mallorca

Source: youtube.com via Mallorca on Pinterest

In 1891 disease destroyed Majorca’s vineyards. Grapes were decimated and the island's main source of income collapsed. From 1891 to 1895, Majorcans emigrated in great numbers. In 1895, Spain was ruled by nine year old King Alphonso XIII and his mother as regent. In 1898, Spain was defeated in the Spanish-American War.

Algeria

The Llabrés family name appears to be Spanish, and there is no explanation of how it became French. But we do know that the Llabrés family went to French Algeria where they took to farming near the town of  Bône, tha ancient city of Hippo, where St. Augustine lived in Roman times.


Kansas

In 1920, Frank Miles, a young oil worker from Kansas, came to Algeria. Frank and Maria met, fell in love, married, and returned to Kansas where they raised a family of two girls and a boy.

Joan is the one in the picture.