Júlia Varholová, née Júlia Justína Zavacká, (November 17, 1892—November 22, 1972) was the mother of the American artist Andy Warhol.

Life

She was born to a peasant family in the Rusyn village of Miková, Austria-Hungary (now in northeast Slovakia) and married Andrej Varhola there in 1909. He emigrated to the United States soon after, and in 1921 she followed him to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The couple had three children: Paul (Pavol), John (Ján), and Andy. The family lived at several Pittsbugh addresses, but beginning in 1932 at 3252 Dawson Street in the Oakland neighborhood of the city. The family was Byzantine Catholic and attended St. John Chrysostom Byzantine Catholic Church. Her husband died in 1942.

Julia enjoyed singing traditional Rusyn folk songs and was artistic. She loved to draw. Her favorite subjects were angels and cats. She also did embroidery and other crafts, such as bouquets of hand-made flowers made from tin cans and crepe paper. During the Easter season she decorated eggs in the Pysanka tradition.

As a widow, she moved to New York City in 1951 to take care of Andy. Andy often used her decorative handwriting to accompany his illustrations. She won awards for her lettering, including for an album cover featuring the musician Moondog in 1958. In 1957 she illustrated a small book called Holy Cats and she also worked on 25 Cats Name Sam and One Blue Pussy.

In 1966 Andy made a movie called Mrs. Warhol (black-and-white, 66 minutes). It features Julia in her basement apartment in Andy's house playing “an aging peroxide movie star with a lot of husbands,” including the most current spouse, played by Richard Rheem. Andy follows her about with his camera as she goes about her daily domestic routines.

In 1971 she returned to Pittsburgh and died a year later. She is buried, alongside her husband and near her son Andy, in St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Cemetery in Bethel Park, a south suburb of Pittsburgh.