Destiny Prevails: My Life with Aristotle, Alexander, Christina Onassis and her daughter, Athina - Softcover

Ioannidis, Mr. Paul J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0990757471 ISBN 13: 9780990757474

Publisher: Significance Press, 2015

Synopsis

Before there were multimillionaires lurking around every corner of 57th Street in New York and buying up mansion blocks in London’s toniest neighborhoods, you used to be able to count the really rich on one, maybe two, hands. And in that simpler epoch, Aristotle Onassis was the one of a few real self-made multimillionaires, toasted and admired by kings, politicians and the global jet set, and the object of fascination by journalists and the world’s public. His life may have seemed an open book, but there was so much going on behind the scenes. Always close by in Onassis’ later years was his trusted aide Paul Ioannidis, a decorated war hero and pilot who helped Onassis build Greece’s small domestic airline with just 15 (1 DC-4 and 14 DC-3s) aircraft into a major international airline, Olympic Airways. For nearly half a century, Ioannidis, who served as Director General of the Onassis-owned Olympic Airways and as one of the founding board members, of the Alexander S. Onassis Foundation, shared a special relationship with Onassis as well as with his children, Alexander and Christina. Paul Ioannidis’ memoir, “DESTINY PREVAILS: My life with Aristotle, Alexander, Christina Onassis and her daughter, Athina,” recounts for the first time, the true, tragic saga of the Onassis family and their fortune estimated, at the time, more than half a billion dollars. Ioannidis tells the tale of the fabulous growth of Olympic Airways. With routes all over the world and a cabin staff outfitted in Pierre Cardin. In April 1960, Olympic set a new flight time record between London and Athens when the Comet 4B was introduced on that route. First-class guests were served, in real crystal glasses, champagne with caviar and ate gourmet meals with golden cutlery earning a reputation of luxury. With the tremendous success of this global transport empire, Onassis became the prototypical one-man business conglomerate, the type we associate today with tycoons such Richard Branson or Donald Trump. With holdings in almost 100 companies around the world, his reach was truly incredible for his time. Onassis’ personal life was the stuff of rigorous tabloid coverage, as well. He lived mostly on his opulent 325-foot yacht, the Christina, where he entertained everyone from Winston Churchill and the Kennedys to Marilyn Monroe. While married to the daughter of another Greek shipping magnate, Tina Livanos, he carried on a years-long and very public affair with the beautiful opera diva, Maria Callas. It ended only when Onassis met and married recently widowed U.S. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy shortly after her brother-in-law was assassinated in 1968. In Destiny Prevails, Ioannidis describes what it was like to be so close to the Onassis family during this tumultuous time. He is there in the hospital room when Onassis’ learns his beloved son Alexander, fatally injured in a routine test flight, is brain dead and will never recover. He is at the cockpit controls when a married Onassis takes a private flight to Crete with his lover, the opera singer Maria Callas. He also watches the strain between Jackie Kennedy and Onassis’ only daughter, Christina, over the terms of Aristotle’s will. And after Christina’s untimely death at the age of 38 from an “acute pulmonary edema,” he is the one to fly her body back from Argentina to Skorpios, the family island, for burial. Ioannidis’ story, which also relays his own experiences as a resistance fighter against the Nazis, unfolds accompanied by dozens of photographs, intimate details and documentary evidence, including a photo of Onassis’ handwritten will, a note from Maria to Aristotle and a thank-you letter from Jackie Kennedy to Onassis. Ioannidis' insider perspective and his concise and detailed prose make Destiny Prevails a must read for anyone interested in a fascinating slice of Greek history or the story of Aristotle Onassis, one of the most fascinating characters in the story of the modern world.

About this title

About the Author:

Paul J. Ioannidis, aged 18, joined the Resistance against the German occupation in 1943 as part of the Greek People’s Liberation Army and later Force 33, an Allied military unit in the mountains of occupied Greece. George VI honored him for his wartime bravery with the King’s Medal for Courage of the British Empire. He received a certificate of commendation from Field Marshall Lord Alexander. He returned both on May 10, 1956, the day the British hanged two freedom fighters in Cyprus. He said the awards no longer meant anything to him; the Cypriot patriots were executed because they fought for the liberation of their country, just as he had fought for Greece. Ioannidis trained as a fighter pilot, served in the Royal Hellenic Air Force, became a commercial pilot and joined Greek airline T.A.E., acquired by Aristotle Onassis in 1957 and renamed Olympic Airways. At Olympic he was Chief Instructor, Chief Pilot, Flight Operations Director and finally Director General. Ioannidis met Onassis in 1956 and quickly grew to be a most trusted associate, eventually becoming Director General of Olympic and a founding board member of the Alexander S. Onassis Foundation. He worked 58 years with the Onassis Group and has spent nearly 43 years as a close advisor and friend of the family, sharing a special relationship with Onassis’ children, Alexander and Christina. Ioannidis flew with Olympic as a Boeing 747 Captain until retiring in February 1984, logging 22,500 hours as Captain and Instructor. For 12 years, he also piloted the Royal Family of Greece. He handled business activities of the Onassis Foundation, where he ultimately was CEO of Shipping and Commercial Operations, and was president of the Board of Directors of all Christina Onassis’ companies. Ioannidis is there when Onassis enters his dying son’s room; pilots a private flight for opera singer Maria Callas; and witnesses the strain between Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Christina over Aristotle’s will. After Christina’s death, he is one of four men who managed the estate of her daughter, Athina, in legal struggle with her father, Thierry Roussel. In Destiny Prevails, Onassis’ story unfolds like a Greek tragedy, from losing his son and successor in a horrific plane accident to losing his own health before his daughter was ready to lead his business empire. With intimate details and documentation, Ioannidis reveals a saga of the Onassis family that has never before been published and little known – until now.

About this edition

• Publisher: Significance Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0990757471
• ISBN 13: 9780990757474
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 502