The book Gilded Lily: Lily Safra: The Making of One of the World's Wealthiest Widows by Isabel Vincent (Harper, 2011) was the unauthorised biography of the one of the world's richest international philanthropists and socialites. Even though Vincent spent 5 years researching her subject in Brasil, Lily's nephew, Leonardo Watkins, asked a Brasilian court to block the book’s release, alleging it defamed his deceased father. It WAS banned in Brasil!
Lily and Edmund Safra
cover of Isabel Vincent's book
Now examine her complex life. Born Lily Watkins in 1934 in Porto Alegre Brasil, to Czech-British rail engineer Wolf Ganz Watkins & Russian-Uruguayan Annita Noudelman. Lily grew up in Rio and Montevideo.
She was first married in 1952 to Argentine hosiery magnate Mario Cohen. They lived in Uruguay, had three children and divorced in the early 1960s. [Her son and grandson with Cohen tragically died in a car crash in Brasil in 1989].
A 2nd marriage in 1965 to multi-millionaire businessman Alfredo Greenberg, later changed to Monteverde. He was the founder of the Brasilian home appliances chain Ponto Frio. According to Vincent's book, in 1969 Monteverde (with bi-polar disorder) was planning to divorce Lily when he was suddenly found dead with two shots into his chest. Brasilian authorities ruled it a suicide and Monteverde's will left Lily all his Ponto Frio assets. The Monteverde family always disputed the suicide verdict, constantly asking how a suicide could shoot himself twice in the heart and then hide the gun. Thus they had the Vincent book banned.
Lily sold her 70% of the company in 2009 to a retail giant controlled by Brasilian billionaire Abílio dos Santos Diniz, for $351 million.
Her 3rd marriage in 1972 was to English businessman Samuel Bendahan, but this marriage ended in divorce in a year.
The fourth marriage in 1976 was to banker Edmond J Safra who’d grown up in Aleppo before moving to Milan at 16 to learn the banking business and then on to Brasil, where he set up his first bank. This multi-national man was fluent in French, English, Italian, Portuguese, Arabic and Hebrew.
They married in 1976 at a glamorous society wedding attended by Ronald & Nancy Reagan and the Aga Khan. By 1981 they settled in New York, becoming key members of Manhattan’s social elite and friends of shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Frank Sinatra.
The couple split their time between New York, Monaco, Geneva and the French Riviera, happily married until his 1999 death. Edmund Safra died when a fire swept through his Monte Carlo duplex penthouse. But Mrs Safra, who had her own suite of rooms separated from her husband’s by reinforced doors, escaped unscathed. His death in a bizarre arson case was solved when one of Edmund’s nurses, an American ex-Green Beret soldier Ted Maher, was tried and convicted of starting the fire.
It made worldwide news and started conspiracy theories everywhere. Half the critics attacked Edmund’s drug competitors and half thought Lily was responsible because she bought a huge Belgravia mansion, fitting it a bombproof basement, armoured windows and 35 security cameras.
Elton John, Camilla Parker Bowles and Lily Safra
London in 2002.
NY Post
Edmund left half his fortune to charities and left $800 million to Lily. For decades she was known as a leading world philanthropist, devoted to her late husband’s legacy. But her rift with Edmund’s brothers never healed. They did not attend the reception after Edmund’s funeral, made worse by her decision to bury him in Switzerland, rather than in the Israeli family-owned plot. None the less Lily continued to focus on education and research on brain diseases, especially Parkinson’s which so harmed her last husband.
Her life-long connection to culture also saw her regularly mentioned in the fashion world. At a 2003 dinner in her New York home she hosted the former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and New York’s former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. At the 2004 Sidaction AIDS benefit dinner, she sat at Karl Lagerfeld’s table.
In 2012 she put her large jewellery collection, including a 32-carat ruby ring by Chaumet, up for auction at Christie’s Geneva. The Jewels for Hope sale netted $38 million, with all proceeds distributed to 32 charities including Elton John AIDS Foundation; Paris Opera; Paris Ballet; Royal Opera House London and Henry St Settlement in New York. After the 2019 fire devastated Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris, Lily gave 10 million euros for its restoration.
reception honouring Millepied's appointment Director of Paris Opera Ballet, 2013
Haute Living
Her major Israeli commitments were Israel Museum; Sheba Medical Centre Tel Hashomer; Hadassah University-Medical Centre Jerusalem; Brain Research Centre, University of Haifa; Yad Vashem and Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
Edmond J Safra Foundation published a biography stating Lily Safra received honorary doctorates from prominent higher education institutions including Imperial College London and Hebrew University Jerusalem, and honorary fellowships from King’s College London, Courtauld Institute of Art and France’s Legion d’Honneur. She was also a board member of Michael J Fox Parkinson’s Foundation.
Wiki
There is a photo section in the Vincent book that readers found especially helpful, given the husbands moved on quickly and the home countries changed even more quickly over the years. Luckily they spoke many languages fluently
In July 2022 Lily Watkins Safra died in Geneva at 87. Her death from pancreatic cancer was revealed (in WWD) by the Edmond J Safra Foundation in a statement about their late chairwoman. Thank you to the obituaries in Tatler, Forbes, Australian Newspaper and WWD.
In July 2022 Lily Watkins Safra died in Geneva at 87. Her death from pancreatic cancer was revealed (in WWD) by the Edmond J Safra Foundation in a statement about their late chairwoman. Thank you to the obituaries in Tatler, Forbes, Australian Newspaper and WWD.
Hello Hels, What an interesting woman Lily Safra was--sort of a modern take on the Merry Widow. I admire her for being such a sincere and perspicacious philanthropist. The book sounds fascinating and a perfect summer read. I will look for it on my next trip home,
ReplyDelete--Jim
Parnassus
DeleteI was quite cautious at the beginning, because a poor girl who marries many times and only to mega wealthy men seems a bit focused on gaining money for herself. As it turns out, she had much greater goals.
She did what all filthy rich people should do, and I hope she was a good person too, as it sounds she was.
ReplyDeleteAndrew
DeleteShe was generous beyond my greatest expectations, but the money depended on her spouses and their wise financial decisions.
Lily Safra’s life was a tapestry of glamour, tragedy, and philanthropy
ReplyDeleteroentare
Deletethat is so true about glamour and philanthropy. But I hadn't expected tragedy. She would never have recovered from losing her beloved Cohen son and even more beloved grandson in a car crash. The Greenberg death was a murder by gun shots. Safra died in an incomprehensible way :(
The first photo looked like Sophia Loren.
ReplyDeleteI struggle to find her interesting. she had a big check-book - is that the sum of it all.? :/
Liam
DeleteI have never heard of one donor giving as much money as Lily gave, and to as many scientific, cultural, educational and philanthropic institutions as she supported. Harvard University alone received her gift of $12.3 million and Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral $22 million post-fire.
I've never heard of her but then surprisingly I don't mix in those circles. The suicide of her 2nd? husband sounds very suspicious and interesting that the family had the book banned.
ReplyDeleteFun60
DeleteI also didn't like the sound of the two husbands who died suspiciously, and I assume that there will be little change of finding the truth in the future. Someone certainly hated the two men, or their wealth.
Re book banning, Brazil's military dictatorship established a system of censorship in the mid 1960s, banning books if they were subversive, dangerous or against morality. The family only used laws that were already in place.
Makes me wonder about her with deaths of husbands. Anyway she left/gave money to where it was needed.
ReplyDeleteMargaret
Deleteme too. The first death was due to two bullets and as the family explained, if he was suiciding, he could not have fired a second bullet.
The second death was even more bizarre. The court heard a man admitting to lighting the fire that killed Edmond Safra and his personal nurse, barricading themselves in a bathroom to escape what he thought were armed intruders.
Did Lily and husband have any notable art of their own? Did any of it end up in major galleries?
ReplyDeleteDeb
DeleteI know that Lily bought "L'Homme qui marche I" 1960 by Giacometti for $104.3 million but I cannot find who inherited or bought the sculpture from the family. However I do know that Lily donated a $21 million Gerhard Richter painting to the Israel Museum in 2011.
Safra's jewellery sale at Christie’s Geneva raised $38 million, with funds going to the Elton John AIDS Foundation, Paris Opera and Paris Ballet etc. She donated far more decorative arts than paintings, apparently.
Perhaps with so many far-flung homes often unoccupied they thought that valuable paintings would make them a target for break-ins. Jewelry could be kept in a vault. --Jim
DeleteParnassus
Deleteit would have to have been a very large vault!
Interesting read about Lily Safra- thanks for sharing it. I live in South Florida where we have Safra Bank, Safra Synagouge, and some Safra other stuff.
ReplyDeletegluten Free
Deletethe Edmund Safra Synagogue is very impressive, planned and funded in Florida, but incomplete when Edmund suddenly died in 1999. I don't know who originally created the beautiful design but I do know that when the work was finished later on, it was named in his honour.
Safra's 1960s Republic National Bank of NY expanded much later into Florida. By the 1990s, his bank in Florida was very successful. And attractive.
You mentioned Imperial College London, which was an amazing area of medicine to get closely involved with. The Edmond and Lily Safra Fellowship offers four early-career scientists researching Parkinson’s disease and related neurodegenerative disorders the opportunity to join its Department of Brain Sciences.
ReplyDeleteJoe
DeleteParkinson’s disease and related neurodegenerative disorders seem an unusual area of medicine to attract wealthy donors, but both Safras were committed to medicine in general and Parkinson's in particular. Edmond Safra personally struggled with Parkinson's disease during his later life, a commitment that the Edmond Safra Philanthropic Foundation continues.
She sounds like an interesting lady, and I do wonder about the 2 shots in the heart that killed one of her husbands. And why are there always family feuds around money? I haven't heard of Safra before, but thank goodness there are people who are willing to donate large sums of cash to useful organizations (those that help out people and society). Have a great new week Hels.
ReplyDeleteErika
DeleteShe made ENORMOUS and endless donations to organisations in medicine, tertiary education, cultural pursuits, religious communities and humanitarian relief.
Perhaps that is why her family were so annoyed that they didn't inherit it all.
I didn't know the name but I did know the face, th8s was an interesting read
ReplyDeleteJo-Anne
ReplyDeleteI recognised Elton John, Camilla Parker Bowles, Benjamin Millepied and Natalie Portman immediately, but until I started researching Lily Safra in depth, I had never seen her face or name. She must have made her donations very modestly.
"This multi-national man was fluent in French, English, Italian, Portuguese, Arabic and Hebrew." Wanna bet? The American Translators Association after some 70 years has managed to include two (02) members who passed translation tests INTO three different languages.
ReplyDeleteHank
DeleteMy grandfather spoke Russian, Yiddish and Hebrew at home, then worked as a translator in English, French and Ukrainian in the army. He thought that was enough, but once he lived in Australia, he had to learn Italian for his customers :)
Hi, I started following you a while back and would love it if you followed me back. Thank you...
ReplyDeleteWelcome aboard :)
DeleteI left you a comment today :)
Interesting read , It would be such fun to have all that money and be able to give it away . I would so love to be a fairy godmother. I have been missing in action for a while now , my lovely 32 year old son died and I have been hiding under a rock . We something in common Helen .Its good to read your wonderful posts . Thank you for all the effort you put in . M
ReplyDeleteAnon
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry to hear about your son. A parent should never have to bury his/her own child.
My own son died in Israel in 2024, aged 51, and I will probably never leave the house again. But reading up journal articles and books to prepare blog posts has been helpful, I must admit.
yes I know about your son . I am working which helps a bit .
DeleteLong life to your family.
ReplyDeleteMatéria de uma brasileira bilionária. Espero que ela tenha deixado algo de bom em nosso país ou no estado que ela nasceu: Rio Grande do Sul. O Banco Safra é um dos mais importantes do Brasil. É o quarto Banco Privado mais importante do Brasil.
ReplyDeleteLuiz
DeleteI knew Lily married Edmond in 1976 long after he had moved to Brazil where he set up his first bank. So I am not remotely surprised that Banco Safra is now one of the most important banks in Brazil. They were both VERY generous and business-wise people.