Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg made her mark on the world with her Fridays For Future movement, which began in 2018 and sparked a global outcry against the ongoing climate crisis. While the 23-year-old has continued to fight for climate action over the years, her younger sister, Beata Ernman, has been quietly building a public profile of her own.
Beata, better known as Beata MonaLisa, is a powerhouse performer who captured the internet’s attention in recent weeks after her singing videos went viral. Yet with renewed attention came the realization that Beata was, in fact, Greta’s 20-year-old sister.
The pair couldn’t be more different, with Beata choosing a career in entertainment rather than activism. She is a self-trained singer, actor and dancer, and began performing at a young age.
“I started dancing when I was three and singing when I was seven. I performed in shows at school, and everyone thought I was annoying,” she shared with Interview magazine. “I was bullied by everyone. Now, the bullies follow me. They’re like, ‘We went to school together.'”
She starred alongside her opera singer mother, Malena Ernman, in the musical “Forever Piaf” in 2020, portraying the younger version of Édith Piaf. When asked about her relationship with her sister by Interview magazine, Beata simply replied: “I’m not responsible for other people’s lives.”
Greta shared with Dagens Nyheter in 2019 that Beata was subjected to constant bullying and harassment due to her climate activism. “The one who suffers is my sister. She is 13 years old, and she has been subjected to systematic bullying, threats and harassment,” Greta explained. “The people who write threats and hate to me do it to the whole family, even to her.”
© Facebook“For my sister at home, who tries to have a daily life…She is much more reachable,” Greta continued. “There is no support whatsoever; instead she is being constantly discouraged.” Despite distancing herself from Greta’s image, Beata shares the same fiery personality as her sister.
“I have many straight male producers who tell me how to sing. They want to feel like they’ve taught me,” she told Interview. “A loud, young female is very provocative, especially to them, because they want to have control.” She added that her upcoming album was about “the freedom of identity and empowering women”.
© InstagramGreta and Beata are the daughters of Malena and her screenwriter/producer husband Svante Thunberg. Beata’s love for music likely came from her mother, with Malena even serving as Sweden’s Eurovision performer in 2009, where she sang “La Voix”.
© InstagramMalena is also a fierce climate activist like Greta, and was awarded Sweden’s Environmental Hero of the Year Award in 2017.
“It is a tremendous honour to be named the Environmental Hero of the Year,” she said at the time. “My small role in the environmental movement is as a public person trying to lend my voice to those who are not heard in the media noise. No other issue is more important or more difficult to spread.”
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