Alexandros Onassis

Life & Legacy

Alexander Socrates Onassis (Greek: Αλέξανδρος Σωκράτης Ωνάσης; April 30, 1948 – January 23, 1973) was an American-born Greek businessman. He was the son of the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis and his first wife Tina Livanos. He and his sister Christina Onassis were upset by his father's marriage to Jacqueline Kennedy, and he was credited with attempting to improve the relationship between his father and his brother-in-law and business rival Stavros Niarchos, who in 1971 married Alexander's mother after her divorce from Aristotle Onassis.
Born in New York City, Onassis was not formally educated and worked for several years for his father at his headquarters in Monaco. The relationship between Onassis and his father experienced tensions as a result of Alexander's secret relationship with British model Fiona Campbell-Walter, former wife of Hans Heinrich, Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza de Kászon.
He was later appointed the head of Olympic Aviation, a Greek regional airline owned by his father. Onassis died in hospital as a result of injuries sustained in an air crash at Hellinikon International Airport at the age of 24. The Alexander S. Onassis Foundation was established in his memory.