Athina Livanos

Athina Livanos
Born 19 March 1929
London, England
Died 10 October 1974 (aged 45)
Paris, France
Spouse(s) Aristotle Onassis (m. 1946–60)
John Spencer-Churchill (1961–1971)
Stavros Niarchos (1971–1974)
Children Alexander Onassis (1948–1973)
Christina Onassis (1950–1988)

Athina Mary Livanos Onassis Spencer-Churchill Niarchos (Greek: Αθηνά (Τίνα) Λιβανού; 19 March 1929 – 10 October 1974) was the second daughter of the Greek shipping magnate Stavros Livanos and Arietta Zafirakis. She was best known as the first wife of Aristotle Onassis, but she later married her older sister Eugenia's widower, Stavros Niarchos. She was older sister to her parents' only son, George Stavros Livanos.

Marriages and family

Known as Tina, she was married three times. Her husbands were:

  1. Aristotle Onassis (28 December 1946 – 1960); with him she had two children, Alexander Onassis (1948–1973) and Christina Onassis (1950–1988). She divorced him upon her discovering him having an affair with the opera singer Maria Callas.[1]
  2. John Spencer-Churchill, Marquess of Blandford (23 October 1961 – 1971)
  3. Stavros Niarchos (21 October 1971 – 1974), her sister Eugenia's widower.

After her divorce from Aristotle Onassis, Livanos dropped her married name and used her maiden name, until her marriage to the Marquess of Blandford.

Tina Niarchos died of a drug overdose in Paris, where she was living with third husband Stavros Niarchos. During this marriage, she suffered the loss of her 24-year-old son Alexander in a plane crash. Her only living descendant is her namesake granddaughter, Athina Onassis de Miranda. Livanos's daughter, Christina, sued her mother's widower for her mother's estimated US$250 million (in 1974 dollars) estate claiming the marriage should be annulled under Greek law. Christina later dropped the lawsuit and Niarchos returned all of the money as well as Livanos's jewellery, artwork and other personal effects.

References

  1. Feroudi Moutsatsos, Kiki (1998). The Onassis Women. London: Putnam. ISBN 0399144439.