Suzanne Vega

photo by Prphotos

Birth Name: Suzanne Nadine Peck

Place of Birth: (possibly) Santa Monica, California, U.S.

Date of Birth: July 11, 1959

Ethnicity:
*father – English, Irish, Scottish
*mother – German, Swedish

Suzanne Vega is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer.

She is the daughter of Patricia and Richard Peck. Her biological father has English, Irish, and Scottish roots. Her mother is of half German and half Swedish descent. Suzanne was raised in New York City by her mother and stepfather, Puerto Rican novelist Edgardo Vega Yunqué, since she was nine months old.

Suzanne is married to lawyer and poet Paul Mills. She has a daughter with her former husband, musician and record producer Mitchell Froom.

She has stated:

I was raised in a half-Puerto Rican family and spent five years in East Harlem as a young child. At some point, when I was about 9 years old, I learned that my birth father was actually English-Scottish-Irish. Or white, as we used to say in my old neighborhood. Actually, anybody looking at me could probably tell that this was the case, but I felt I was the last to know, partly because I was treated by my Puerto Rican abuelita and my aunt and uncle as one of their own. I was proud, and still am proud, to be a Vega.

Edgardo Vega Yunqué was the son of Alberto Vega and Abigail Yunqué Martinez.

Suzanne’s maternal grandfather was Lloyd/Elloyd E. Schumacher (likely the son of Herman Wilhelm Otto Schumacher and Hattie Louise Auguste Tuchtenhagen). Lloyd was born in Minnesota. Herman was born in Minnesota, to German parents, Herman August Schumacher and Emilie Strissel. Hattie was born in Minnesota, the daughter of Wilhelm Ludwig Tuchtenhagen, whose parents were German, and of Mary Streich, whose parents were German.

Suzanne’s maternal grandmother was Harriet Nadine “Effie” Turner (the daughter of George E. Turner/Thurner and Mary/Marry C. Magnuson). Harriet was born in Minnesota. George was born in Minnesota, to Swedish parents, Agust/August Turner and Johanna Mattson. Mary was born in Minnesota, to Swedish parents, Peter Magnuson and Blenda Hokanson, who were from Kronoberg County.

Sources: http://www.oprah.com

Genealogy of Suzanne Vega – https://www.geni.com

Obituary of Suzanne’s maternal grandmother, Harriet Nadine “Effie” (Turner) Schumacher – http://webcache.googleusercontent.com

4 Responses

  1. ethnogenesis says:

    I have Latino friends who said Suzanne Vega is warmly welcomed and accepted in the Puerto Rican community esp from what I read here about her genealogy and cultural upbringing, adoption is what transethnic or transracial used to mean, not faking one’s race for exploitation purposes – different from a history of “passing” as a mean of survival in a racially tense society, like in the movie the Human Stain when a biracial man (White/Black American) passed as someone “Jewish” to get by.

  2. muricansareallmutts says:

    Alpine.

  3. stlucas says:

    George was born in Minnesota, to Swedish parents, Agust/August Turner and Johanna Mattson. Mary was born in Minnesota, to Swedish parents, Peter Magnuson and Blenda Hokanson, who were from Kronoberg County.

  4. stlucas says:

    Suzanne’s maternal grandfather was Lloyd/Elloyd E. Schumacher (who likely was the son of Herman Wilhelm Otto Schumacher and Hattie Louise Auguste Tuchtenhagen). Lloyd was born in Minnesota. Herman was born in Minnesota, to German parents, Herman August Schumacher and Emilie Strissel. Hattie was born in Minnesota, the daughter of Wilhelm Ludwig Tuchtenhagen, whose parents were German, and of Mary Streich, whose parents were German.

    Suzanne’s maternal grandmother was Harriet Nadine “Effie” Turner (the daughter of George E. Turner/Thurner and Mary/Marry C. Magnuson). Harriet was born in Minnesota. George was born in Minnesota, to Swedish parents. Mary was born in Minnesota, to Swedish parents, Peter Magnuson and Blenda.

    Obituary of Suzanne’s maternal grandmother, Harriet N. (Turner) Schumacher – http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:nKmMV8p33XYJ:https://www.semissourian.com/story/2044721.html&hl=pt-BR&gl=br&strip=1&vwsrc=0

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.