The Story of the Trapp Family Singers is a memoir written by Maria Augusta von Trapp (26 January 1905 ? 28 March 1987) also known as Baroness Maria von Trapp, whose life was fictionalized in the 1959 musical The Sound of Music as well as the 1965 film of the same name. The book was published in 1949 by J. B. Lippincott Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Maria never intended to write anything of her life; but a friend persistently pleaded with her not to allow her story to be forgotten by others. She denied she had any writing skill whatsoever, but her friend was not to be put off and kept on asking her whenever they saw each other. Finally, one day, in desperation, Maria excused herself and went to her room for an hour to scribble a few pages about her life story, hoping to prove once and for all she was no writer. However, this displayed such natural writing talent that she reluctantly agreed to finish what she had started, and her jottings formed the basis of the first chapter of her memoirs.

The original Broadway production,[1] starring Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel, opened on November 16, 1959; the show has enjoyed numerous productions and revivals since then. The 1965 film musical starred Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, and won five Academy Awards. The Sound of Music was the final musical written by Rodgers and Hammerstein.