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When Jackie Kennedy found out that her husband, Aristotle Onassis, was having an affair with Maria Callas, she did what she knew best – she looked away.
The claim was made by Kiki Feroudi Moutsatsos, Onassis’ longtime personal secretary. Her memoirs, “Onassis’s Wives”, dives deep into a love triangle.
Callas, the superstar soprano who died in 1977, is the subject of a new biopic starring Angelina Jolie.
Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas. (Netflix)
“Onassis never stopped seeing Maria,” Moutsatsos, 75, told Fox News Digital. “A week after he got married, he was visiting her many times. I’d say three, four times a week. Jackie was very smart and quickly figured out what was going on.”
Former first lady spoke to his wife’s sister, Artemis Onassis, about the shipping magnate’s not-so-secret relationship with the singer.
“I pretended I didn’t hear anything,” Moutsatsos recalled. “But Artemis told her, ‘Don’t pay attention because here in Greece it 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’ affair with Maria Callas, she reportedly took his sister’s advice and ignored him. (Getty Images)
“Jackie took Artemis’s advice,” she said. “Onassis and Maria were twin (flames). They couldn’t be separated from each other.”
According to Biography.comCallas and Onassis met at a party in 1957. It quickly turned into a long-lasting romance. The relationship was tumultuous, and Over time, Onassis began to set his sights on the widow Kennedy.
Onassis married Kennedy in 1968. As the newspaper writes, Callas found out about 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, he was killed in 1963. followed by her brother-in-law, Robert Kennedy, in 1968.
Moutsatsos said she initially wondered why Kennedy chose to turn a blind eye to Onassis’ infidelity. But then she realized that this was nothing new for the mother of two children.
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“Jackie was used to this with her previous husband, the president,” Moutsatsos said. “But she also needed to have a strong man by her side. Onassis was the perfect man. He could provide security not only for her but for her children. And Onassis adored his children, John Jr. and Caroline.”
“I pretended not to hear anything. But Artemis told her: ‘Don’t pay attention, because here in Greece it 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 that on [his private island] Skorpios, he would bring them all kinds of animals and toys to make them feel happy,” she said. “And of course, Jackie could have anything she wanted too. He was used to giving her many surprises.
“I remember he would ask me to call a famous jeweler here to bring the best things, the most expensive things. We would spend hours looking at these jewels, trying to find only the best for her.”
“Don’t you think the woman likes that? I’d say so,” she laughed.
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 towards Onassis’s bride. Moutsatsos claimed that Callas and Onassis would often argue 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 said. “Whenever she was sitting on the boat, (Christina, Onassis’ yacht), she would read the newspaper and see photos of Onassis with Maria. After that, there would be war on the boat.”
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Maria Callas and Aristotle Onassis would often argue over his wife Jackie Kennedy. (ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
Moutsatsos noted that it was easy to see why Onassis wanted to marry Kennedy.
“I remember the first day I met her,” she said. “She was coming down the stairs of the house. She was like a queen, a princess. But she acted like a little girl. She was very polite with a soft voice. I remember she was very happy because we started talking in French because Onassis’ sister also spoke French.”
“Jackie was shy all the time,” she said. “Whenever she would call to talk to her husband, she would always ask me if Mr. Onassis was free. 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 involving 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, talking to her.
“The day Jackie and Onassis got married, it rained all day,” Moutsatsos said. “Here in Greece, we believe that if someone is getting married and it’s raining, it’s lucky. But it wasn’t lucky.”
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Aristotle Onassis (1906-1975) with Maria Callas (1923-1977). Onassis’ 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 devastated when Onassis died,” she explained. “I remember her calling 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 did not like any woman to be next to their father. It wasn’t personal. They just always believed that one day their father would be with their mother again. Maria knew that.
Aristotle Onassis refused to leave his longtime love, his secretary claimed. (Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
“I helped her get to Skorpios without anyone knowing,” claims Moutsatsos. “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’s gone. They were born for each other.”
Kiki Feroudi Moutsatsos believes that Maria Callas died of a broken heart. (ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
When Onassis died, Callas had already retired from public life. Callas was 53 years old when she suffered a fatal heart attack. Moutsatsos insists that the star died of a broken heart.
“There were reports that Maria was using drugs – that’s not true,” she said. “What is true is that she was heartbroken.”
Moutsatsos stayed in touch with Kennedy, who lived in New York with her two children after Onassis’s 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 seeks to republish his memoirs. He is also in talks with producers to potentially turn the book into a movie. Her goal, she said, is to set the record straight.
“This was my family,” she said. “And I just want people to know the truth.”
