Charlotta (Lotti) Jeanneret 1887-1973

Charlotta Maria Lotten (Lotti) Jeanneret, born at Villa Ekebo, Halmstad on 15th June 1887. She was a Swedish journalist, writer and artist.

Lotti Jeanneret (nee Wallberg - Maria Charlotta Wallberg) was the daughter of the manufacturer Alfred Wilhelm Wallberg and Charlotte (nee Ericsson). The family (which included seven children) lived in Slottsmöllan, Halmstad, where they owned the textile and brick industries (Wallbergs Fabriks AB and Slottsmöllans tegelbruk).

Charlotta married Lieutenant Axel Rääf in Småland in 1907. In 1923, she married the musician Albert Jeanneret (Albert Jacques Henri Jeanneret-Gris) (1886-1973), brother of Le Corbusier (Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris) and cousin of Pierre Jeanneret (1896-1967)

While they were engaged to be married, Albert Jeanneret and Charlotta (Lotti Rääf) commissioned Le Corbusier to design and build a home for them to live in with Charlotta’s daughter (Kerstin) and nephew (Björn). Completed in 1925, the result was the Villa Jeanneret. Villa Jeanneret was connected to the celebrated Villa La Roche (designed for Raoul La Roche, a Swiss banker and collector of avant-garde art) and became one of Le Corbusier’s most famous works. Both houses are now listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Charlotta's sister, the architect Ingrid Wallberg (1890-1965), worked as an intern for Le Corbusier in the late 1920s.

As a journalist, Charlotta wrote many cultural articles and travelogues for Nordic region newspapers. In the early 1960s (1960 and 1962) she had two books published - 'Tusenårig Japansk Lyrik' (Millennial Japanese Poetry) and 'Fornegyptens litteraturskatt' (Ancient Egypt's Literary Treasure) and started to work as an artist.

Charlotta was the mother of the artist Kerstin Rääf (1914-2010). They exhibited together in 1971.

Examples of Charlotta's works are held in the collections of Moderna Museet, Stockholm ('Lampon och Ljuset', 1967), Halland Art Museum and Norrköping Art Museum.

https://sis.modernamuseet.se/people/1198/lotti-jeanneret/objects

Charlotta Jeanneret died in Stockholm on 20th June 1973, aged 86.