Aristotle Onassis
1906–1975

Aristotle Onassis was a Greek shipping baron who influenced the development of world shipping during the twentieth century and amassed a billion-dollar fortune.

The Onassis family lost everything when the Turks invaded eastern Greece in 1922, but Aristotle Onassis moved to Buenos Aires at the age of 16—too young for Greek military conscription—and built his fortune as a tobacco and opium importer. It is claimed that use of imported tobacco in Argentina more than tripled because of his efforts. In order to protect his business interests from a new Greek tariff, Onassis stepped in to offer to negotiate trade arrangements between Greece and Argentina. With this success, Onassis made his first $1 million by the age of 26.

Taking advantage of cheap selling prices during the Depression and after World War II, Onassis soon built a shipping fleet and contracted with the United States to carry supplies to rebuild war-torn Europe. He had one of the largest fleets of merchant ships and oil tankers, and profited greatly from the post–World War II economic expansion. Onassis also founded the Greek Olympic Airlines in 1957, after suffering a frustratingly long layover in Montreal.

As Onassis's fortunes grew, he formed the world's most powerful shipping clan with Stavros Livanos (1890–1963) and Stavros Narchos (1909–1996), although they often were competitive in business and personal rivals.

SEE ALSO Cargoes, Freight;Shipping, Merchant;Shipping, Technological Change.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brady, Frank. Onassis, an Extravagant Life. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1977.

Lilly, Doris. Those Fabulous Greeks: Onassis, Niarchos, Livanos. New York: Cowles, 1970.

Benjamin Passty