Christina Onassis and Sergei Kauzov: a marriage for love or a KGB special operation?

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The development of relations between Christina Onassis and Soviet employee Sergei Kauzov was closely watched all over the world, the most authoritative publications were full of headlines with their names. Only the Soviet media did not break their vow of silence on this topic. This marriage threatened to increase the influence of the Soviet Union on the world economy. And yet, the country's top leadership doubted for a long time the advisability of marrying a Soviet citizen to the richest woman in the world.

Moscow is a city of romance

Christina Onassis was 25 years old, and by this age she was completely disappointed in love. Behind her were already two unsuccessful marriages and many losses. She inherited after her father a multimillion-dollar fortune and the largest private fleet in the world. Mrs. Onassis flew to Moscow for the first time to renew the lucrative contract of the Olympic Maritime company with the Soviet Ministry of the Navy for the transportation of grain from America.

During the negotiations, she noticed him, Sergei Kauzov. Unlike all those with whom she had dealt with in the Soviet government until now, he behaved strictly, in a businesslike manner, but completely without servility. Sergey's deep education was also surprising. He was fluent in several foreign languages, knew how to maintain a conversation on any topic and had the ability to present himself in a favorable light.

Parisian sequel to the novel

Sergei Kauzov was appointed head of the Sovfrakht department in Paris. And that was the official reason for his trip to Paris. However, the reality was that Christina demanded the continuation of negotiations exclusively with the participation of Sergei. It was quite clear that he was leaving for France, having received the most detailed instructions at the Lubyanka.

Christina later shared with her friends that she simply could not resist the huge amount of forbidden fruits contained in one person: he is Russian, he is a communist and at the same time a KGB agent.

They began to go out together and travel the world. Journalists and photographers accompanied the lovers everywhere. The global financial elite is worried. Indeed, if Christina entrusted the management of the company to her potential spouse, the consequences for the world economy and NATO's strategic plans to use the flotilla of Aristotle Onassis could be unpredictable. Everyone was against this relationship, including the Onassis family and the Olympic Maritime board of directors. But this marriage was desired by Christina herself. There was no point in arguing in this case.

Wedding as a compromise

Passions around the lovers were all heating up, and Christina was already dreaming of a wedding, planning to celebrate it on the island of Skorpios. But after Sergei voluntarily flew with his beloved to Buenos Aires, he was urgently recalled to Moscow.

Kauzov's wedding with Mrs. Onassis was supposed to take place in Moscow, the young spouses should live right there. The blessing for this marriage was given by Secretary General Brezhnev himself. They could influence Christina in only one way: using her love for Sergei. A dossier was collected on him about his financial fraud in Paris. And then they told Christina that her future husband was facing prison. Sergei's safety condition was her consent to marry in Moscow and stay in the USSR. Christina agrees.

Sergey's divorce from his first wife Natalia was formalized in just half an hour. And at the insistence of Christina, Sergey's daughter from her first marriage was assigned a decent allowance, paid up to 18 years.

They signed in August 1978. More than 300 foreign journalists have come to the Griboyedov registry office in Moscow. However, no one was allowed into the wedding hall.

This wedding shocked the whole world. And it was completely clear that no special services could force the wayward Greek princess to marry a man who was indifferent to her. The heiress of millions married a simple Soviet employee.

The love boat crashed …

A few days after the wedding, Christina started talking about a normal apartment, and not that tiny two-bedroom apartment on Mosfilmovskaya, where they settled with her husband's mother. By order of the KGB, they are allocated two apartments at once in Bezbozhny Lane, having previously evicted a writer from one.

Christina and Sergey look really happy. They go to theaters and exhibitions, walk a lot and clearly enjoy each other's company. The only thing she lacked was the parties and receptions she was used to and loved to go to, showing off her countless jewels.

Business affairs do not allow Christina to stay in Moscow for a long time, she is increasingly traveling abroad. Later, Sergei began to travel with his wife. He quickly managed to win over Christina's relatives, began to attend negotiations with his wife. He has already entered the role of a Western businessman.

But Kristina was already tired of her toy named Sergei Kauzov. She divorced her communist, giving him a couple of tankers and a luxury apartment in London as compensation. And only much later she confesses to her aunt that Sergei was the best of her husbands.

Sergei remained to live abroad, married an Englishwoman Alison Harkness, they had a daughter, then a divorce followed. He currently spends a lot of time in his chalet in Switzerland.

Christine married Thierry Rousel, gave birth to his daughter Athena. She divorced in 1987, and in 1988 Cristina was found dead in Buenos Aires. A sudden heart attack was reported, but unverified sources reported a severe overdose of sleeping pills.

Christina Onassis was very similar to her father who could simply throw a bored woman out of his life.