Christina Onassis died of a heart attack after years of having her heart broken
When Christina Onassis
Today in History
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MARINA Dodero was hosting her childhood friend Christina Onassis at her mansion outside Buenos Aires when she checked in on her guest late in the morning to find her in the bath.
When Marina reported this to Onassis’s maid, Eleni, the woman became alarmed. “She never has her bath before she has her coffee,” Eleni said. The two women rushed to the bathroom to find the woman unconscious, in only a few centimetres of bath water. They called for a doctor but by the time he arrived there was nothing he could do.
Onassis, daughter of the late Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis, was dead at the age of 37 — 30 years ago today. Initially it was suspected she had committed suicide but it was later found to be a heart attack caused by a pulmonary oedema, a build up of fluid in the lungs that puts a strain on the heart. It was a sudden and shocking end, but if any heart was going to give it out from emotional strain it would have been hers.
Despite growing up in a wealthy family and inheriting a vast fortune from her father, she was dubbed the “poor little rich girl” because she led such an unhappy life. As a child enduring the public scandal of her father’s affair with opera singer Maria Callas followed by her parents’ divorce, she also lost her immediate family over a short period of time from 1973 to 1975. She also married and divorced four times and struggled throughout her short life with eating disorders and weight problems.
Born on December 11, 1950, in New York City, Christina’s father Aristotle was born in a Greek-speaking part of the Ottoman Empire but his family moved to Greece when he was young.
Rising from relative poverty he built his own shipping business in the 1930s. In 1946 married Athina “Tina” Livanos (born in 1929), daughter of the world’s wealthiest shipping magnate Stavros Livanos, in 1946. Christina was Aristotle’s second child and only daughter after their son Alexander was born in 1948.
Christina lived a rootless existence, she was shunted from country to country; to the US, France, England, Greece and Switzerland, forming no strong attachments to any one country.
When she was young both of her parents began having affairs, but while Tina was discreet Aristotle flaunted his relationship with Callas. It caused the marriage to break down leading to divorce in 1960. Aristotle continued his relationship with Callas but they never married.
Christina disliked Callas, but she was not happy when he later ended that relationship because he had found a new love, Jackie Kennedy, widow of US president John F. Kennedy, who he married in 1968. Christina, believing Jackie just wanted Aristotle for his money, called Jackie, who was 29 years younger than Aristotle, “my father’s unfortunate obsession”.
Meanwhile, she struggled to find her own identity. In 1971 Christina married American real estate developer Joseph Bolker against her father’s wishes. But the marriage ended after just nine months.
When her brother Alexander died in January 1973, after being injured in a plane crash, Christina blamed it on the Kennedy curse that had rubbed off in Jackie. Christina’s mother’s death in October 1974 and Aristotle’s in March 1975 only helped confirm this strange theory.
Aristotle doted on Christina and groomed her to take over his business, but she struggled for control of the company and tried to prevent Jackie from taking part of his fortune.
Not long after her father’s death she married Greek shipping heir Alexandros Andreadis, but they divorced after 14 months. In 1978 she married shipping company executive Sergei Kauzov, but that also broke down after two years.
She became known for her profligate lifestyle, spending lavishly on parties and drugs, allegedly paying $30,000 to hire a jet to pick up shipments of cocaine. Along with depression, alcoholism and prescription drug abuse she also had problems with her weight.
Despite her bad luck, she tried marriage again; this time to French businessman Thierry Roussel in 1984. However, due to Roussel’s affairs, the marriage also broke up but left her with a daughter, Athina, the love of her life.
She was considering starting a new life in Argentina, visiting her friend Dodera when she was found dead on November 19, 1988. Her death was partly caused by years of drug abuse.
She left her fortune to Athina who later had to fight with her father for control of her inheritance.