Bella Rosenfeld Chagall (, 15 November 1895, Vitebsk – 2 September 1944, New York State) was a Jewish Russian writer born in Vitebsk, Russian empire (Now Bielorussia) and the first wife of painter Marc Chagall. She was the subject of many of Chagall's paintings including Bella au col blanc (Bella with White Collar) in 1917, and appears posthumously in Bouquet près de la fenêtre, painted in 1959–1960. Timeline of her biography 1895 Bella Rosenfeld was born into the wealthy Jewish family of a Vitebsk jeweler. 1909 She met Marc Chagall, at that time, a penniless apprentice of Léon Bakst. According to Marc, their love started the moment they saw each other and continued for 35 years. 1915 they were married and moved to Petrograd. 1916 she gave birth to their daughter Ida. 1918 they returned to Vitebsk 1922 they emigrated to Lithuania and then to Germany. 1924 they moved to Paris. 1939 they moved to the south of France 1941 arrested in Marseille and then fled to the United States 2 September 1944 Bella died from a bacterial infection 1946 Posthumously, Bella Chagall's most famous book, The Burning Lights, was published. Works The Burning Lights. Translation by Norbert Guterman. New York: Schocken Books Inc., 1946. 268 pp. 8vo, with thirty-six black and white illustrations by Marc Chagall. Yiddish Brenendike likht (The Burning Lights), with drawings by Marc Chagall. New York: Book League of the Jewish People's Fraternal Order, IWO, 1945. Yiddish. 254 pp. Di ershte bagegenish (The First Encounter), with drawings by Marc Chagall. New York: Book League of the Jewish People's Fraternal Order, IWO, 1947. Yiddish. 230 pp. Bibliography Shishanov V. «These young people were socialists … ». Participants of revolutionary movement in Marc Chagall and Belly Rozenfeld's environment // Bulletin of the Museum of Marc Chagall. 2005. №13. P. 64-74. Shishanov, V. «Wishing to arrive...» (Documents on study Belly Rozenfeld on the Moscow higher female courses)// The Chagalovsky sbornik. Release. 3. Materials X – XIV Chagalovsky readings in Vitebsk (2000–2004). Minsk: «Riftur», 2008. P.176-182. 1895 births 1944 deaths Writers from Vitebsk Belarusian Jews Russian Jews Russian artists' models Yiddish-language writers 20th-century American novelists American women novelists Jewish American novelists Marc Chagall 20th-century American women writers Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Germany German emigrants to France French emigrants to the United States