Galery

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I would not like to comment on anything in connection with the Foundation. All I can say is that in his will, Onassis defined as the first objective of the Foundation the establishment of awards similar to the Nobel Prize. Does anyone know anything about these awards?

This is a large organization that owns ships and property and manages big capital. The sons of Aristotle Onassis’ three most trusted former employees have been managing it: a lawyer, an accountant and a pilot. Of course, there is a board but these three persons take the decisions in practice. I would not say anything more.

Do you think that the relations between Athina Onassis and Greece could improve?

This should happen but my opinion is that her husband Doda is not the person who will bring her closer to Greece. He was on Skorpios for a short time; they never went there on holiday. And the truth is that a husband, especially when he is older, exerts influence on his wife. Athina does not have bad memories of her visits to Greece; we had always had a good time on different cruises with her family when she was young.

All the same, Doda is Brazilian, he is not connected with Greece and I do not see why he should want to be connected with the country in some way. So, as long as she is with him, I do not expect that Athina will return to Greece.

Could you make a comparison of Athina with her mother Christina? What are their similarities and differences?

I do not think they can be compared. Her mother had many problems and led an undisciplined lifestyle. She had many problems with her parents. Her mother did not like her as child and thought that she was ugly. Her father was constantly busy with his business and did not have time to pay attention to her.

Athina is the opposite. She grew up in a very united family in which her father and her stepmother always were right next to her. She is extremely disciplined.

The second difference is Athina’s constancy in her relationships. As you can see, she has been with the same man for years. Christina, in turn, had had four husbands and several other relationships within 10-12 years. I do not want to be critical, I am just pointing out the facts. Athina is a very strong-minded person and she fights to the end.

Christina wanted to have a child, and did so. Athina does not have a child yet and it is unclear whether she wants to have one of her own or whether she will adopt Doda’s daughter.

Nobody knows how her life will continue. We, the people who know her and who were close to her at some point, hope that she will be healthy and happy for many years. However, she is an Onassis and we cannot know how things will develop.

You have raised alone the issue of the so-called curse of the Onassis family.

I did not believe there was such a thing but I saw five more people in the family dying when Athina came of age. This made me go back in time and then I found out that 33 people had died, who were part of the family or were close to it. So, I would not be able to fight against statistics. The fact is that the mortality in this family is so high that it would not be difficult to describe the phenomenon as a curse. I do not know if it's something metaphysical or just statistics, but I believe that there is something.