When Jackie Kennedy learned that her husband, Aristotle Onassis, was having an affair with Maria Callas, she did what she did best – look the other way.
The claim was made by Kiki Feroudi Moutsatsos, Onassis’s long-time personal secretary. your memoirs, “The Onassis Women” delves deep into the love triangle.
Callas, a superstar soprano who died in 1977, is the subject of a new biopic starring Angelina Jolie.
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Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas. (Netflix)
“Onassis never stopped seeing Maria,” Moutsatsos, 75, told Fox News Digital. “A week after his marriage, he visited her many times. I would say three or four times a week. Jackie was very smart and quickly realized what was going on.”
The former first lady turned to her husband’s sister, Artemis Onassis, about the shipowner’s not-so-secret relationship with the singer.
“I acted like I didn’t hear anything,” Moutsatsos recalled. “But Artemis said to her, ‘Don’t be careful, because here in Greece this usually happens.’ Onassis was in love with Jackie, but he was also used to meeting and being with Maria.
When Jackie Kennedy found out about her husband Aristotle Onassis’s affair with Maria Callas, she reportedly followed his sister’s advice and ignored it. (Getty Images)
“Jackie followed Artemis’ advice,” she shared. “Onassis and Mary were twins (flames). They couldn’t separate from each other.”
Accordingly Biography.comCallas and Onassis met at a party in 1957. A long romance quickly developed. The relationship was turbulent and Onassis eventually began to keep an eye on the widowed Kennedy.
Onassis married Kennedy in 1968. According to the source, Callas learned of her lover’s plans three weeks before the ceremony.
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Jackie Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis leave the chapel on his private island after their wedding in 1968. (Getty Images)
Kennedy believed that Onassis’ money and power could provide protection for her family. Her first husband, President John F. Kennedy, was murdered in 1963, Her brother-in-law Robert Kennedy followed in 1968.
Moutsatsos said she initially wondered why Kennedy chose to turn a blind eye to Onassis’s infidelity. But then she realized that this was nothing new for the mother of two.
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“Jackie was used to this from her previous husband, the president,” Moutsatsos said. “But she also needed a strong man by her side. Onassis was the perfect man. He was able to give her security, not only for her but also for her children. And Onassis adored her children, John Jr. and Caroline.”
“I pretended I didn’t hear anything. But Artemis told her, ‘Don’t be careful, because here in Greece this usually happens.’ Onassis was in love with Jackie, but he was also used to meeting and being with Maria.
Jackie Kennedy believed that Aristotle Onassis could provide security and protection for her family. (Central Press/Getty Images)
“I remember on (his private island) Skorpios, he would bring them all kinds of animals and toys to make them happy,” she shared. “And of course Jackie could have anything she wanted. He was used to giving her lots of surprises.”
“I remember he asked me to call a famous jeweler here to bring the best, the most expensive things. We spent hours looking at these gems, trying to find only the best ones for her.”
“Don’t you think a woman would like that? “That’s what I would say,” she giggled.
Kiki Feroudi Moutsatsos’ memoir, The Onassis Women: An Eyewitness Account, was published in 1998. She is currently in talks with producers to turn it into a film. (Putnam Pub Group)
Although the women never met, Callas harbored ill feelings toward Onassis’ bride. Moutsatsos claimed that Callas and Onassis often fought over Kennedy.
“Maria was jealous,” Moutsatsos said. “She wanted to be with Onassis and have him always by her side, but that was not possible. They were too similar… But Maria was also a very strong character. She was very proud. Jackie was more like a little girl. She was “warmer, more feminine.”
Jackie Kennedy’s first husband, President John F. Kennedy, reportedly had an affair with Hollywood actress Marilyn Monroe. (Frank Povolny/Twentieth Century Fox/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)
“Maria never liked this relationship with Jackie,” Moutsatsos shared. “Whenever she was on the boat (the Christina, Onassis’s yacht), she read the newspapers and looked at the photos of Onassis with Maria. After that there would be war on the boat.”
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Maria Callas and Aristotle Onassis often fought over his wife Jackie Kennedy. (ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
Moutsatsos noted that it was easy to spot why Onassis wanted to marry Kennedy.
“I remember the first day I met her,” she said. “She came down the stairs of the house. She was like a queen, a princess. But her behavior was like that of a little girl. She was very polite and had a soft voice. I remember she was very happy when we started speaking in French,” because Onassis’s sister also spoke French. So we started talking.
“Jackie was shy all the time,” she shared. “Whenever she called to speak to her husband, she would ask me if Mr. Onassis was available. It was never, ‘I want to talk to my husband’.”
Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas and Haluk Bilginer as Aristotle Onassis in “Maria”. (Netflix)
Kennedy’s marriage to Onassis had other problems with another woman – her daughter-in-law Christina Onassis.
“Christina and (her brother) Alexander didn’t like her at all,” Moutsatsos said. “Jackie tried to approach them but they avoided meeting her and talked to her.
“The day Jackie and Onassis got married, it rained all day,” Moutsatsos said. “Here in Greece we believe that if someone gets married and it rains, it means good luck. But it wasn’t luck.”
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Aristotle Onassis (1906–1975) with Maria Callas (1923–1977). Onassis’s longtime personal secretary, Kiki Feroudi Moutsatsos, described the couple as twin flames who never stopped loving each other. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Onassis never left his former flame. Moutsatsos said the couple were together until his death in 1975.
“Maria was distraught when Onassis died,” she explained. “I remember she called me almost every day because she wanted to know how to deal with the whole situation. She didn’t want to see Jackie, she didn’t want to see (Onassis’) children. They didn’t like any of them.” There was nothing personal about the woman being next to her father. They just always believed that their father would be with their mother again one day.
Aristotle Onassis refused to give up on his long-time love, his secretary claimed. (Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
“I helped her get to Skorpios without anyone knowing,” Moutsatsos claimed. “She didn’t want to live anymore. She thought her life was useless because yes, he married Jackie but she could still be with him. Now he was gone. They were born for each other.”
Kiki Feroudi Moutsatsos believes Maria Callas died of a broken heart. (ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
When Onassis died, Callas had already withdrawn from public life. Callas was 53 years old when she suffered a fatal heart attack. Moutsatsos insists the star died of a broken heart.
“There were reports that Maria was taking drugs – that’s not true,” she said. “The truth is that she was heartbroken.”
Moutsatsos stayed in touch with Kennedy, who lived in New York City with her two children after Onassis’ death. She died there in 1994 at the age of 64.
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Jackie Kennedy died in 1994. She was 64 years old. (Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
Today, Moutsatsos would like to republish her memoirs. She is also in talks with producers to potentially adapt the book into a film. Her goal is to set the record straight, she said.
“That was my family,” she said. “And I just want people to know the truth.”
