Athina Roussel
Encyclopedia
Athina Onassis Roussel is a French
competitive show jumper
and heiress
. She is the only surviving descendant of her grandfather Aristotle Onassis
, the Greek
shipping magnate, and is of half Greek
and half French
descent.
, France, Athina is the only child of Christina Onassis
(1950–1988) and her fourth husband, Thierry Roussel
, a French pharmaceutical heir. Prior to her December 2005 marriage, her legal name was Athina Roussel. However, upon her marriage to Alvaro Alfonso de Miranda Neto, she took the name "Athina de Miranda," and soon afterwards, legally added the Onassis name. In equestrian events, she is usually listed as "Athina Onassis de Miranda," "Athina de Miranda," or "Athina Onassis Miranda."
She was born 12 years after the death of her uncle Alexander, 11 years after the death of grandmother Tina, almost exactly a decade after the death of grandfather Aristotle, and was just three years old when mother Christina died. After her mother's death, she was raised by her father and his second wife, Marianne "Gaby" Landhage, a Swedish model who had been Roussel's longtime mistress and by whom he already had two children, born during Roussel's marriage with Christina.
For her early education, she attended a school in Lussy-sur-Morges
, where the Roussels lived in a five-bedroom villa. Following a preparatory course in Brussels
, she passed her baccalauréat
exam in the summer of 2003.
Roussel has three half-siblings:
owns.
In 1999, at the age of 13, she said in court documents she felt "great aversion to anything Greek", even though her mother was Greek.
court ordered the transfer of management of her inheritance from the five trustees selected by her mother to the KPMG Fides auditing firm in Lucerne
.
On Athina's 18th birthday, she was of legal age to take control of half of her inheritance. On her 21st birthday, she did not take control of the other half or become the president of the Onassis Foundation
, with assets in excess of US$2.1 billion. The Foundation's Board has made public that they have no interest in turning over control to Athina, who they say has no real qualifications to take on the role. Moreover, the Onassis Foundation officially denies that she ever was an heir to the estate of Aristotle Onassis; they acknowledge her only as heiress to her mother's fortune.
The Board has arranged to modify the Statutes of the Foundation so that Athina would not become head of the Foundation automatically upon completing 21 years of age. Her lawyers contested the validity of the changes and unsuccessfully fought for her stated desire to be President of the Foundation as of January 2006, when she turned 21.
Stelios Papadimitriou, president of the foundation, has remarked: "We are not going to turn the Onassis Foundation over to someone who has no connection with our culture, our religion, our language or our shared experiences, and who never went to college or worked a day in her life. She can do whatever she wants with what she inherited from her mother, but not with Onassis's legacy to the Greek people in memory of [Athina's uncle], Alexander Onassis." Under the terms of her grandfather's will, his fortune was divided in two, with half going to set up a Vaduz
-based charitable foundation in memory of his only son, Alexander, who was killed in a plane crash.
ian professional showjumper
(and two-time Olympic medalist) Alvaro Miranda Neto, more commonly known as "Doda", in March 2003, Athina moved to São Paulo
, in Brazil
, where the couple now live. She paid $8.6-million for a 10600 square feet (984.8 m²) duplex, with space for 15 cars and overlooking Ibirapuera Park.
Roussel and Miranda were married on December 3, 2005, after which it is believed that she assumed a hybrid version of the Onassis and Miranda names, thus apparently dropping the Roussel name. The bride's father and stepmother were not at the ceremony, though her half-sister Sandrine Roussel was invited.
Some anecdotes of the wedding refer to the guests' consumption of 1000 bottles of champagne. Most witnesses were Brazilian VIP
s or friends of the couple from the equestrian community. Athina and Doda decided not to publish photos of the wedding (as they were going to do) after a television report some days before the wedding about the death of Athina's mother. The couple reportedly asked for no presents and asked their guests to donate the money intended for presents to charity.
More recently, in an effort to reattach to her maternal roots, Onassis-Miranda, expressed an interest in learning Greek and even renewed her Greek passport. She switched her national affiliation from France to Greece, effective for all of her equestrian competitions.
Athina Onassis and Alvaro de Miranda Neto have a home base in São Paulo, but they travel throughout the year with the Global Champions Tour
, of which Onassis-Miranda is official patroness. The Rio de Janeiro
leg of the tour is, in fact, named for Onassis; the Athina Onassis International Horse Show, established in 2007, was initially set in São Paulo, but as of 2009, its venue is a newly renovated center in Rio de Janeiro. Onassis and Miranda are joint owners of AD Sport Horses, their company based in Fleurus
.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
competitive show jumper
Show jumping
Show jumping, also known as "stadium jumping," "open jumping," or "jumpers," is a member of a family of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes commonly are seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics...
and heiress
Beneficiary
A beneficiary in the broadest sense is a natural person or other legal entity who receives money or other benefits from a benefactor. For example: The beneficiary of a life insurance policy, is the person who receives the payment of the amount of insurance after the death of the insured...
. She is the only surviving descendant of her grandfather Aristotle Onassis
Aristotle Onassis
Aristotle Sokratis Onassis , commonly called Ari or Aristo Onassis, was a prominent Greek shipping magnate.- Early life :Onassis was born in Karatass, a suburb of Smyrna to Socrates and Penelope Onassis...
, the Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
shipping magnate, and is of half Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
and half French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
descent.
Early life
Born in Neuilly-sur-SeineNeuilly-sur-Seine
Neuilly-sur-Seine is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.Although Neuilly is technically a suburb of Paris, it is immediately adjacent to the city and directly extends it. The area is composed of mostly wealthy, select residential...
, France, Athina is the only child of Christina Onassis
Christina Onassis
-See also:*Christina, a song dedicated to her by artist - Patty Griffin*Christina O - the Onassis family yacht, named after Christina by her father-External links:...
(1950–1988) and her fourth husband, Thierry Roussel
Thierry Roussel
Thierry Roussel was the fourth husband of Christina Onassis, and the only man with whom she had a child. Their daughter is Athina Onassis de Miranda...
, a French pharmaceutical heir. Prior to her December 2005 marriage, her legal name was Athina Roussel. However, upon her marriage to Alvaro Alfonso de Miranda Neto, she took the name "Athina de Miranda," and soon afterwards, legally added the Onassis name. In equestrian events, she is usually listed as "Athina Onassis de Miranda," "Athina de Miranda," or "Athina Onassis Miranda."
She was born 12 years after the death of her uncle Alexander, 11 years after the death of grandmother Tina, almost exactly a decade after the death of grandfather Aristotle, and was just three years old when mother Christina died. After her mother's death, she was raised by her father and his second wife, Marianne "Gaby" Landhage, a Swedish model who had been Roussel's longtime mistress and by whom he already had two children, born during Roussel's marriage with Christina.
For her early education, she attended a school in Lussy-sur-Morges
Lussy-sur-Morges
Lussy-sur-Morges is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud, located in the Morges district.-Geography:Lussy-sur-Morges has an area, , of . Of this area, or 74.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 13.2% is forested...
, where the Roussels lived in a five-bedroom villa. Following a preparatory course in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, she passed her baccalauréat
Baccalauréat
The baccalauréat , often known in France colloquially as le bac, is an academic qualification which French and international students take at the end of the lycée . It was introduced by Napoleon I in 1808. It is the main diploma required to pursue university studies...
exam in the summer of 2003.
Roussel has three half-siblings:
- Erik Christopher Roussel (born July 1985)
- Sandrine Roussel (born May 1987)
- Johanna Roussel (born July 1991)
Personal fortune
The extent of her inheritance is the subject of much argument. Sources never seem to agree on whether her collective heritage is actually worth at least a billion since she is often credited as the "billionaire heiress" throughout the media. There have been several calculations of the assets believed to be part of her inherited portfolio, including a small island off the coast of Greece named "Skorpios", which is still in her possession despite many rumors of it being sold, for example to Giorgio Armani. By some accounts it is doubted that her collective heritage regardless of calculations was at least a billion thus not actually making her a legitimate billionaire. One cause for confusion is the media's tendency to blur the line of distinction between what she owns and what the Alexander S. Onassis FoundationAlexander S. Onassis Foundation
Wishing to honor the memory of his son Alexander, who died in 1973, in an airplane crash at the age of 25, Aristotle Onassis directed in his will that half of his estate should be transferred upon his own death to a foundation to be established in Alexander’s name...
owns.
In 1999, at the age of 13, she said in court documents she felt "great aversion to anything Greek", even though her mother was Greek.
Legal entanglements
Christina Onassis never trusted Thierry Roussel completely, which led the family to arrange for a Board of Administrators to have control over the family money until Athina came of age. The trustees selected by Christina to manage Athina's estate in the event of Christina's death were as follows: Stelio Papadimitriou, Paul Ioannidis, Apostolos Zabelas, Theodore Gabrielides and Thierry Roussel. The "four Greeks" (the four other than Thierry Roussel) have frequently been dubbed in the media as the "greybeards." During Athina's childhood and adolescence, all expenditures made on her behalf by her father (using money from the Onassis inheritance) had to be approved by the Board in advance (which led her father to threaten constantly to move back to Paris, France with the family, where income taxes would cost the estate a "small fortune a year", as Roussel put it). In 1999, a VaduzVaduz
Vaduz is the capital of the principality of Liechtenstein and the seat of the national parliament. The town, located along the Rhine, has about 5,100 inhabitants , most of whom are Roman Catholic. Its cathedral is the seat of a Roman Catholic archbishop....
court ordered the transfer of management of her inheritance from the five trustees selected by her mother to the KPMG Fides auditing firm in Lucerne
Lucerne
Lucerne is a city in north-central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of that country. Lucerne is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and the capital of the district of the same name. With a population of about 76,200 people, Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and...
.
On Athina's 18th birthday, she was of legal age to take control of half of her inheritance. On her 21st birthday, she did not take control of the other half or become the president of the Onassis Foundation
Alexander S. Onassis Foundation
Wishing to honor the memory of his son Alexander, who died in 1973, in an airplane crash at the age of 25, Aristotle Onassis directed in his will that half of his estate should be transferred upon his own death to a foundation to be established in Alexander’s name...
, with assets in excess of US$2.1 billion. The Foundation's Board has made public that they have no interest in turning over control to Athina, who they say has no real qualifications to take on the role. Moreover, the Onassis Foundation officially denies that she ever was an heir to the estate of Aristotle Onassis; they acknowledge her only as heiress to her mother's fortune.
The Board has arranged to modify the Statutes of the Foundation so that Athina would not become head of the Foundation automatically upon completing 21 years of age. Her lawyers contested the validity of the changes and unsuccessfully fought for her stated desire to be President of the Foundation as of January 2006, when she turned 21.
Stelios Papadimitriou, president of the foundation, has remarked: "We are not going to turn the Onassis Foundation over to someone who has no connection with our culture, our religion, our language or our shared experiences, and who never went to college or worked a day in her life. She can do whatever she wants with what she inherited from her mother, but not with Onassis's legacy to the Greek people in memory of [Athina's uncle], Alexander Onassis." Under the terms of her grandfather's will, his fortune was divided in two, with half going to set up a Vaduz
Vaduz
Vaduz is the capital of the principality of Liechtenstein and the seat of the national parliament. The town, located along the Rhine, has about 5,100 inhabitants , most of whom are Roman Catholic. Its cathedral is the seat of a Roman Catholic archbishop....
-based charitable foundation in memory of his only son, Alexander, who was killed in a plane crash.
Personal life
Since she started dating BrazilBrazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian professional showjumper
Show jumping
Show jumping, also known as "stadium jumping," "open jumping," or "jumpers," is a member of a family of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes commonly are seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics...
(and two-time Olympic medalist) Alvaro Miranda Neto, more commonly known as "Doda", in March 2003, Athina moved to São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
, in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, where the couple now live. She paid $8.6-million for a 10600 square feet (984.8 m²) duplex, with space for 15 cars and overlooking Ibirapuera Park.
Roussel and Miranda were married on December 3, 2005, after which it is believed that she assumed a hybrid version of the Onassis and Miranda names, thus apparently dropping the Roussel name. The bride's father and stepmother were not at the ceremony, though her half-sister Sandrine Roussel was invited.
Some anecdotes of the wedding refer to the guests' consumption of 1000 bottles of champagne. Most witnesses were Brazilian VIP
VIP
VIP and V.I.P. is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:-In general:* Vacuum insulated panel* Values, Influence, and Peers, an anti-crime campaign in Ontario elementary schools* Variable Information Printing, a form of on-demand printing...
s or friends of the couple from the equestrian community. Athina and Doda decided not to publish photos of the wedding (as they were going to do) after a television report some days before the wedding about the death of Athina's mother. The couple reportedly asked for no presents and asked their guests to donate the money intended for presents to charity.
Equestrian career
Onassis-Miranda began her equestrian career as a teenager, when she was still known as Athina Roussel.More recently, in an effort to reattach to her maternal roots, Onassis-Miranda, expressed an interest in learning Greek and even renewed her Greek passport. She switched her national affiliation from France to Greece, effective for all of her equestrian competitions.
Athina Onassis and Alvaro de Miranda Neto have a home base in São Paulo, but they travel throughout the year with the Global Champions Tour
Global Champions Tour
The Global Champions Tour is an annually celebrated show jumping competition.The sponsors include Jaeger-LeCoultre and Eurosport. Athina Onassis de Miranda is a patroness of the tour....
, of which Onassis-Miranda is official patroness. The Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
leg of the tour is, in fact, named for Onassis; the Athina Onassis International Horse Show, established in 2007, was initially set in São Paulo, but as of 2009, its venue is a newly renovated center in Rio de Janeiro. Onassis and Miranda are joint owners of AD Sport Horses, their company based in Fleurus
Fleurus
Fleurus is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On January 1, 2006 Fleurus had a total population of 22,221. The total area is which gives a population density of 375 inhabitants per km²...
.
Genealogy
Further reading
- Gage, Nicholas: "The Last Onassis," Vanity FairVanity Fair (magazine)Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
, May 2005 - Klein, Edward: "The Battle Over the Golden Child," Vanity FairVanity Fair (magazine)Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
, November 1997 - Martin, Thomas: The Richest Girl in the World: Athina Onassis Roussel: The Onassis Family Legacy, Ami Books Inc., 2003 ISBN 9781932270129.