John Paul Getty III ( November 4, 1956 - February 5, 2011 ) - the grandson of the American oil tycoon and industrialist Paul Getty , who was the richest man in the world in the 50s and 70s of the 20th century.
| John Paul Getty III | |
|---|---|
| John Paul Getty III | |
| Date of Birth | November 4, 1956 |
| Place of Birth | Minneapolis , Minnesota , USA [1] |
| Date of death | February 5, 2011 (54 years old) |
| Place of death | Wormsley Castle, Buckinghamshire , UK |
| Citizenship | USA |
| Occupation | , |
| Father | Paul Getty Jr. |
| Mother | Abigail Harris |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Balthazar Getty |
In 1973, sixteen-year-old John Paul Getty III was abducted in Rome. For five months, his grandfather refused to pay the kidnappers a ransom of $ 17 million, fearing for the lives of the remaining grandchildren. To force him to yield, the kidnappers sent Getty a severed ear of the young man along with a lock of hair. When the kidnappers lowered their claims to $ 3 million, the billionaire nevertheless allocated funds for the ransom, and John Paul Getty III was released.
The story of the abduction of Paul Getty III formed the basis of Ridley Scott 's film “ All the Money of the World ” (2017) and the Danny Boyle television series “Trust” (2018).
Content
Biography
Getty spent most of his childhood in Rome , where his father led the Getty Oil branch of Getty, an Italian oil company. His parents, John Paul Getty Jr. and Abigail Harris, divorced in 1964, when the boy was 8 years old. In 1966, his father remarried - to model and actress Talita Paul. Carried away by the hippie movement , they spent a lot of time in the UK and Morocco in the 1960s, and little Paul lived with his mother Gale in Rome and studied at St. George's British International School. At the beginning of 1972 he was expelled from school after a two-meter insulting inscription made by Paul appeared on the wall of the corridor to the address of its director. In the same year, his stepmother died in Rome from an overdose of drugs, [2] and his father returned to the United Kingdom. Paul, while staying in Italy, led a bohemian lifestyle: he attended nightclubs, took part in left-wing demonstrations, and was fond of creativity, earning a living by making jewelry, selling paintings and working part time in extras [3]
Abduction
At 3 a.m. on July 10, 1973, Paul, who was then 16 years old, was kidnapped from Piazza Farnese in Rome [4] . The boy was put on a bag over his head and taken to an underground shelter in the mountains of Calabria in southern Italy [5] . The kidnappers demanded a ransom of $ 17 million in exchange for the safe return of the young man. However, family members suspected that the kidnapping was staged by the young Getty in order to extort money from his grandfather, the billionaire. Paul Getty refused to pay the ransom, saying that he had 14 grandchildren, and if he paid at least a cent, then he would have 14 grandchildren kidnapped [3] .
On November 10, 1973, the daily Italian newspaper Il Messaggero received a parcel with a strand of red hair cut off by a human ear and a note threatening Paul with further injuries if $ 3.2 million was not paid. The letter said: “This is Paul’s first ear. If within ten days the family continues to believe that it is a rally organized by him, then you will get a second ear. In other words, he will return to you piece by piece ” [6] . Realizing that the abduction was not a hoax, Getty Sr. was reluctant to fork out a ransom of $ 3 million. But he allocated only 2.2 million dollars, another 800 thousand he lent to his son at 4 percent per annum.
On December 15, 1973, shortly after the ransom was paid, Paul was found alive at a gas station in Lauria, in the province of Potenza . [7] The young mother, Gail, recalled that on this day Getty Sr. was eighty-one years old, and suggested that Paul call his grandfather to thank for the salvation and wish him happiness and good health. However, Getty refused to answer the phone [8] .
Nine kidnappers were detained, including a carpenter, hospital nurse, former prisoner and olive oil trader from Calabria, as well as senior members of the Ndrangheta (a mafia organization in Calabria) Girolamo Piromalli and Saverio Mammoliti [3] . Two criminals were convicted and received prison sentences; the rest, including the Ndrangheta bosses, were acquitted for lack of evidence. Most of the ransom paid by the Getty family was never found [9] . In 1977, Paul Getty underwent plastic surgery to restore the ear cut off by the abductors [4] .
Personal life
In 1974, Getty married German citizen Martine Sacher (née Schmidt), who was five months pregnant. He was closely acquainted with Martina and her twin sister Jutta even before the abduction. Getty was 18 years old when his son Balthazar was born on January 22, 1975. The couple divorced in 1993 [4] .
After being released from captivity, Getty, trying to control her experience, became addicted to drugs and alcohol [8] . In 1981, he drank a large dose of alcohol mixed with valium and methadone . Overdose led to liver failure and stroke . Sex was completely paralyzed, partially blinded and lost the ability to talk [10] [11] . His mother Gale took care of him. Paul sued his father, trying to get him to pay medical expenses in the amount of 28,000 US dollars per month [8] . He remained disabled until the end of his life. By 1987, he was able to restore only partial mobility: he was able to attend concerts and movie theaters again and even ski, being tied to a metal frame [12] .
In 1999, Paul and six other members of his family became citizens of Ireland , where their ancestors came from. Citizenship was granted in exchange for the purchase of real estate and an investment of one million pounds in the creation of new jobs (for each investor) [13] .
Death
Getty died February 5, 2011 at the age of 54 at Wormsley Castle, Buckinghamshire ( England ).
See also
- Seventies lead in Italy
Notes
- ↑ Obituary: John Paul Getty III, grandson of oil tycoon, who had ear cut off in kidnapping . The Scotsman (February 8, 2011). Date of appeal April 11, 2018.
- ↑ Sanchez, Tony. Up and Down with the Rolling Stones: The Inside Story. - Da Capo Press, 1996 .-- P. 242. - ISBN 0-306-80711-4 .
- ↑ 1 2 3 J. Paul Getty III, 54, Dies; Had Ear Cut Off by Captors Neopr . The New York Times (February 7, 2011). Date of appeal April 11, 2018.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Getty obituary . The Daily Telegraph . Date of appeal April 11, 2018.
- ↑ Patricia Gucci. In the Name of Gucci: A Memoir . - Crown / Archetype, 10 May 2016 .-- ISBN 978-0-8041-3894-9 .
- ↑ Washington Post, report on Getty's death , February 7, 2011
- ↑ Catching the Kidnappers , Time , 28 January 1974
- ↑ 1 2 3 J. Paul Getty III, 54, Dies; Had Ear Cut Off by Captors , The New York Times , February 7, 2011
- ↑ "J. Paul Getty III dies at 54; scion of oil dynasty" , Los Angeles Times , February 7, 2011
- ↑ J. Paul Getty III, 54, Dies; Had Ear Cut Off by Captors The New York Times , February 7, 2011.
- ↑ "Obituary for John Paul Getty II" , BBC News, April 17, 2003
- ↑ John Paul Getty III obituary , The Telegraph, February 7, 2011
- ↑ Troubled grandson of US oil magnate . The Irish Times. Date of treatment May 1, 2018.