The cause of death of German supermodel Tatjana Patitz was breast cancer, her agent Corinne Nicholas told Insider.
"She is survived by her son, her sister, and her parents. We are all devastated by her passing," Nicolas shared in a statement with PEOPLE. "She was compassionate soul, kind and generous of heart and an avid advocate of animal rights. One of the major causes she supported was the conservation of wild horses."
Patitz was one of the original five supermodels pictured in Peter Lindbergh's famous photo for the January 1990 cover of British Vogue. This historic photograph marked a new era in the modeling industry and the beginning of the introduction of supermodels into global pop culture. Patitz was also one of Lindbergh's favorite models, and it was he who launched her successful career as well.
Born in Hamburg to an Estonian mother and a German father, Tatyana moved with her family to Skåner, a seaside town in southern Sweden, when she was very young. At 17, she entered a modeling contest in Stockholm.
Patitz is remembered for her unique beauty, something Anna Wintour, chief content officer of Condé Nast and global editorial director of Vogue, noted in her tribute to the model. "Tatjana was always the European symbol of chic, like Romy Schneider-meets-Monica Vitti," Wintour said after the news of Patitz's death. "She was far less visible than her peers—more mysterious, more grown-up, more unattainable—and that had its own appeal."
Her last public appearance was in October 2022, when she attended a social event in Berlin with her son.
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