Arnold Schwarzenegger credits his mother, Aurelia, as the emotional anchor who fueled his rise from post-war Austria. He recently identified her as the primary reason he does not consider himself a self-made man.

Aurelia Schwarzenegger raised her son with good values in hopes that he would become a good man. But little did she know that she was raising a man who would become an inspiration to millions. She had no idea that her little Arnie would later become the legendary Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Born in 1922, she married Gustav Schwarzenegger, a man 15 years her senior, on October 20, 1945, in the midst of the devastation left by World War II. The couple was building a life when Austria was still reeling from devastation. Her life may not have been well documented, but no less influential.

The couple had two sons, Meinhard and Arnold. Arnold went on to become a bodybuilding legend and a Hollywood star. He often credited her for his success, calling her the emotional anchor of their family.

Gustav Schwarzenegger, on the other hand, was a police chief who served in the Austrian army and later in Nazi Germany’s military police during World War II. He was a strict father who would discipline his children.

But the former Governor of California referred to her as the loving presence who was the complete opposite of his father's strictness. On what would have been her 100th birthday, Arnie paid tribute to her on Instagram. He wrote,

"Today, my mother, Aurelia, would have turned 100. She was the best mother you can imagine, and I’ll always love her. I can’t explain how much she meant to me, but she is the number one reason I won’t call myself self-made."

Sadly, Aurelia Schwarzenegger passed away due to a heart attack on August 2, 1998, in Weiz, Austria, while visiting her husband's grave.

The Time Aurelia Was Worried About Arnold Schwarzenegger

During his "An Evening with Arnold Schwarzenegger" event at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, held on June 28, 2023, in Los Angeles, Schwarzenegger shared about his mom being upset about the posters on his bedroom walls.

"My mother was always looking at that wall, and she said, 'All of your friends have pictures of girls. Where did I go wrong?"

Her worries led her to call their family doctor, and it was only after he told her that the posters were of men Arnie aspired to become like that she was satisfied.

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Written by

Ruwa Javed

Edited by

Ashvinkumar Patil