Christina Onassis

Christina Onassis was born on December 11, 1950, in Lenox Hill, Manhattan, at the LeRoy Sanitarium. She was the only daughter of Aristotle Onassis, a Greek shipping magnate, and Athina Mary "Tina" Livanos. Her maternal grandfather was Stavros G. Livanos, the founder of the Livanos shipping empire. Christina had an older brother named Alexander.

Her early education took place across France, Greece, and England. She attended the Headington School in Oxford and Queen's College in London from 1968 to 1969.

In 1960, her parents divorced amid her father's affair with opera singer Maria Callas. Aristotle Onassis later married Jacqueline Kennedy, the widow of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, in 1968. Christina and her brother Alexander reportedly did not develop a close relationship with Jacqueline Kennedy.

In 1971, her mother remarried Stavros Niarchos, the widower of Christina’s aunt Eugenia Livanos. Within a period of 29 months, Christina experienced significant family losses: her brother Alexander died in a plane crash in Athens in 1973 at the age of 24, and her mother died of a suspected drug overdose in 1974, leaving her an estate valued at approximately $77 million. Her father’s health declined following Alexander’s death and he died in March 1975.

Following her father's death, Christina renounced her U.S. citizenship and donated the American portion of her inheritance to the American Hospital of Paris. Throughout her life, she maintained dual citizenship in Greece and Argentina.

Regarding her career, Aristotle Onassis had prepared Christina to succeed in managing the family business. She was trained in the business operations of the Onassis shipping empire and worked in his office in New York City. Upon her father’s death, she inherited 55% of his fortune, estimated at around $500 million, with the remaining 45% allocated to the Alexander S. Onassis Foundation. A legal settlement resulted in Jacqueline Onassis receiving $26 million from the estate. Christina was considered her father’s successor and successfully managed the shipping enterprise.

Christina Onassis was frequently covered in the media for her lifestyle, personal struggles, and health issues. She was diagnosed with clinical depression at age 30 and developed substance dependencies, including barbiturates, amphetamines, and sleeping pills. In the 1970s, she was hospitalized following an overdose of sleeping medication.

Her personal life included four marriages over a span of 16 years, all ending in divorce. Her first marriage was to Joseph Bolker in 1971; he was a real estate developer and significantly older than her. The marriage lasted nine months, partly due to her father’s disapproval. Her second marriage was to Alexander Andreadis in 1975, which lasted 14 months. Her third marriage was to Sergei Kauzov in 1978, ending a year later. Her final marriage was to French businessman Thierry Roussel in 1984. They had a daughter, Athina, born in 1985. The marriage ended after Onassis discovered Roussel had fathered a child with his mistress, Marianne "Gaby" Landhage.

Christina Onassis died on November 19, 1988, at the age of 37, in a mansion in Tortuguitas near Buenos Aires. Her body was found in her bathtub by her maid. An autopsy concluded she died of a heart attack caused by acute pulmonary edema, with no evidence indicating suicide, overdose, or foul play. A private Greek Orthodox funeral was held on November 20 at a chapel on the Onassis-owned island of Skorpios. She was interred in the Onassis family plot alongside her father and brother.

Her estate was valued at approximately $250 million (equivalent to $665 million in 2024). She bequeathed her fortune mainly to her daughter, Athina, who was raised in Switzerland by her father Thierry Roussel and his wife Marianne Landhage. Athina gained control of half of the inheritance upon turning 18 years old.