Gilded Lily (42 page)

auto racing accident of, 218–19

Edmond's relationship with, 161, 199, 278

father's death and, 71, 74, 278

father's estate and, 119–20, 127–28, 280

guardianship dispute over, 122–28

Lily's adoption of, 100, 128

Lily's relationship with, 15, 122–24, 128, 141, 145–46, 149, 199, 219, 259, 278, 279

marriage and family of, 199, 278–79

mourning for Claudio by, 198–99

Monteverde, Claudia (Carlos's daughter), 199

Monteverde, Isis (Carlos's wife), 199, 219, 278

Monteverde, Regina (Alfredo's mother), 37, 38, 40–43, 49, 58, 62, 63, 74, 79–80

death and grave of, 289

legal suits of, 99, 102, 117–28, 131–32, 149, 151, 162, 186

son's death and, 89–94, 117, 289–90

Monteverde, Scarlett.
See
Delebois Monteverde, Scarlett

Morelli, George, 230

Morgenthau, Robert, 265

Mulroney, Brian and Mila, 252, 264

Museum of Jewish Heritage, 265, 288

Museum of Modern Art, 288

 

Nascimento, Djanira, 70, 76

Nasser, Albert, 98–99, 116, 155, 156, 183, 195, 218, 221, 222

Nasser, Ezequiel Edmond (Edmond's nephew), 212

National Gallery of Art, 219, 221, 288

National Institutes of Health, 387–88

NBC (TV network), 271, 272

Negreiros, Antonio, 205–6, 207, 278

New York Law Journal
, 200

New York Post
, 200, 216, 252, 253, 269–70

New York Presbyterian Hospital, 227, 229, 230

New York Times
, 113, 115–16, 180, 201, 218

Niarchos family, 192

Niemeyer, Oscar, 167

Ninaca S.A., 254–55

North, Oliver, 185

Noudelman de Castro, Annita.
See
Watkins, Annita

 

Oliveira Campos, Roberto de, 171

Olivetti, Camillo, 79

Onassis, Christina, 193–94

Ornano, Isabelle d', 192

Ortega, Daniel, 185

Ozal, Turgut, 208

 

Pães, Alvaro, 52–53

Parker Bowles, Camilla, 220

Pe'er, Aviva, 51

Pérez de Cuéllar, Javier and Marcela, 209, 247, 252

Peron, Juan, 33

Philip, Prince (Britain), 219

Picasso, Pablo, 120, 147

Picasso family, 279

Picquenot, Patrick, 1–3, 5, 236

Pinto Dias, Fernando, 58, 60

Pinto Dias, Vera Contrucci, 8, 43, 58

Pons, Lily, 20

Ponto Frio, 34–36, 42, 44–46, 48, 51, 52, 68, 75, 85, 98, 120, 122, 128, 153, 170, 198, 259, 288, 290

Alfredo's death and, 72–73, 74, 82, 84, 87, 95

Edmond and, 162, 169, 194, 195, 259, 278, 279, 282, 283

financial success of, 49, 101, 123, 158

Lily's and Carlos's sale of, 278, 279

Lily's projected sale of, 218, 219

longtime employees of, 279–83

sixtieth anniversary of, 288, 291

Watkins family and, 63, 69, 277

Prince ton Economics International, 225

Prokhorov, Mikhail, 286–87

Pulsifer, Gary, 268

 

Quincentennial Foundation USA, 209

 

Radziwill, Lee, 279

Rainier, Prince (Monaco), 15, 192

Reagan, Nancy, 6, 199, 268

Realuyo, Pompeyo Roa, 267

Reiss, Ghislaine, 238

Republic Air Transport Services, 186

Republic National Bank of New York, 105, 166, 180, 184, 212, 229, 231, 254

founding and success of, 110–16

Monaco branch of, 1, 213

motto of, 6

sale deal to HSBC of, 5, 220, 221, 224–26, 247, 248, 249

success of, 113–16

Republic National Bank of New York (Suisse), Geneva, 184, 188, 194

Republic New York Corporation, 215, 216

Rio Association of Store Owners, 281

Rivers, Joan, 252, 262, 263, 264, 265

Rivers, Melissa, 263

Robinson, Jim, III, 179, 180–81, 182, 200

Rockefeller, John D., Jr., 190

Rohatyn, Felix, 193

Roussel, Thierry and Athina, 193

Roxo, Zani, 51

Royal Opera House (London), 235

Rubin, Sacha, 40

 

Sadruddin Aga Khan, Prince, 247

Safra, Arlette (Edmond's sister), 129, 253

Safra, Edmond, 96, 97–130, 132, 135–37, 140, 141, 148–52, 155–63, 169, 172, 194, 195, 229–30, 259, 261, 279, 282–85

background and youth of, 102–9

banking tradition and, 6, 12, 56, 97, 102–16, 155, 166–67, 177, 179, 181, 183–84, 224

business acumen of, 12, 104–5, 107

day of death of, 1–5, 13–14, 234–42

death of, 14–16, 226, 242–44, 247, 249, 256, 284–85

fifty-sixth birthday party for, 191

fortune of, 7, 15, 166, 226, 249, 253

funeral/grave of, 247–48, 278

generosity of, 106

honors awarded to, 208–12, 219, 221

Lily's financial affairs and, 99, 100, 101–2, 117–18, 119, 148, 149, 150

Lily's marriage to, 5–6, 16, 163, 193, 197, 199, 206, 278, 289

Lily's memorials to, 260–61, 265

Parkinson's disease of, 213, 214, 233–34

philanthropies of, 166, 200, 206, 209, 210, 214–18, 219, 235, 260–62

social set of, 6–7, 166, 199, 210–11

will of, 226

Safra, Elie (Edmond's brother), 103, 104, 105, 210, 216, 254

Safra, Eveline (Edmond's sister), 129, 212, 253

Safra, Ezra (Edmond's great-uncle), 102

Safra, Gabi (Edmond's sister), 129, 253

Safra, Huguette (Edmond's sister), 129, 253

Safra, Jacob (Edmond's father), 102–8, 110, 112, 214, 220

Safra, Jacqui (Edmond's nephew), 216

Safra, Joseph (Edmond's brother), 56, 98–99, 109, 110, 116, 129, 178, 209, 210, 212, 214, 218, 220–24, 226, 248, 254, 256, 257

Safra, Lily (née Watkins), 4–5, 7–11, 13, 15–16, 59–60, 62–63, 68–69, 75, 81, 132, 159–63, 169, 172, 230–41, 251–58, 260–69, 284–92

background of, 10, 17–25, 30–32, 275–77

birth of, 20

childhood and youth of, 9, 25–39

children of (
see
Cohen, Claudio; Cohen, Eduardo; Elia, Adriana Cohen; Monteverde, Carlos)

death of son and grandson of, 196–99, 278

elegance of, 6, 28, 30, 140

entertaining by, 7–8, 10, 55–56, 88, 89, 166, 188–89, 191–94, 199, 209–10, 211–12, 218, 219–20, 262, 263–64

fiftieth-birthday party for, 183

generosity of, 57–58, 288

grandson Gabriel and, 204, 206, 277–78

honors awarded to, 8, 288

marriages of (
see
Bendahan, Samuel; Cohen, Mario; Monteverde, Alfredo; Safra, Edmond)

Monagasque citizenship of, 15, 273, 284

move to London by, 95, 96, 99, 100–101, 117, 122–23, 276

philanthropies of, 8, 10, 26, 166, 206, 208, 209, 217, 219–20, 260, 265, 287–88

social set of, 5, 6–8, 166, 172, 183, 191–94, 199, 208–12, 219–20, 248, 252, 260–62, 264–65, 290

son Claudio's wedding and, 165–69, 171–74

wealth of, 5, 15, 74, 75, 86, 94–95, 96, 99–102, 118–28, 136–37, 157, 162, 166, 186, 226, 249, 253, 260, 276, 290

Safra, Moise (Edmond's brother), 56, 110, 209, 212, 214, 218, 220, 221, 223–24, 248, 256, 257

Safra, Teira (Edmond's mother), 103

Safra, Vicki (Joseph's wife), 129, 256

Safra Bank, 56, 97, 98, 103

manifesto for success of, 104, 105, 112

Safra family, 132, 171, 177, 178, 185, 214, 217, 218, 220–21, 223–24, 256

banking interests of, 102–6, 212

Edmond's death and, 14, 226, 247, 248, 249, 251, 253–54, 285

motto of, 103–4

move to Brazil by, 107–8

Sephardic background of, 10, 102–3, 105, 108–9, 116, 129–30, 162–63

Safra Family Lodge, 287–88

Safra Frères et Cie, 102–3, 106, 112

Safra Group, 118

St. Bernard, Michelle, 245

Salomon Brothers, 172, 178

Salpeter, Jay, 251, 252–53

Santos Diniz, Abilio dos, 279

Sawyer, Diane, 264, 265

Scherrer, Jean-Louis, 192

Schlein, Dov, 216

Seabra family, 41

Secord, Richard, 185

Senna, Ayrton, 219

Serdet, Daniel, 248

Setton, Sandrine, 256

Shalom Center Project (Israel), 216–17

Sigaud, Perla, 173

Sigelmann, Claudia Bloch, 174–76, 177

Sigelmann, Evelyne Bloch.
See
Cohen, Evelyne Sigelmann

Sigelmann, Inês, 176

Silva, Mario Cesar da, 75, 76

Silva Ramos Filho, Alexandrino, 93

Sirotsky, Carmen, 12, 35, 159

Sirotsky, Sani, 35–36

Sitruk, Joseph, 256–57

Slatkin, Laura and Harry, 229, 230, 236, 271

Smaga, Anita, 254

Soares Navarro, Adilson and Ademir, 60, 95, 283

Soares Navarro, Laurinda, 46, 60, 61, 64, 65, 66–78, 88, 95–96, 283

Society of National Reconstruction, 21

SONAREC, 21, 22, 24

Sonnenblick, Annie, 222

Sonnenblick, Edmund H., 222

Souza Gomes, Eurico de, 24

Sparrow, Charles, 120, 122

Spotless & Brite, Inc, 231, 254

Stambowsky, Ricardo, 173

Steinfeld, Klara, 95, 283

Steinfeld, Marcelo, 4, 22, 49, 52, 87, 95, 97, 129, 130, 135

Icatu house purchase by, 95, 283–84

Sting, 261

Stuckart, Max von (the Baron), 39–40

Sutton, Bruce, 223, 230–31

Swifty's (N.Y.C. restaurant), 252–53, 262

Sztern, Victor, 43, 45, 57, 73, 85, 86, 291

 

Tarrab, Madame, 105–6

Taubmans, 211

Tavares da Silva, Hilmar, 24–25

Tawil, Jacques, 107, 115

TDB.
See
Trade Development Bank

Temple Emanu-El, 215

Thatcher, Lady Margaret, 264

Tiberti, Gerard, 247

Torrente, Genevieve and Jason, 258

Torrente, Vivian, 3, 4, 14, 236, 237, 239, 240, 242–43, 245, 257–58, 269, 271

Trade Development Bank (Geneva), 56, 97, 128, 133, 137, 148, 149, 194, 282

branches of, 110, 117

founding of, 108–10

management style of, 181

Monteverde family legal suit and, 118–22, 127, 128, 149, 155, 162, 251

sale to American Express of, 110, 166–67, 178–84, 224

Trotte, Ademar, 34, 48, 63, 73, 280–81

Trump, Blaine, 7, 211, 252, 262, 265

Trump, Robert, 7, 211, 252, 265

 

Union Bank of Switzerland, 152

United Nations, 260

United Way of America, 200

Universal Company, 118

University Club, 262

 

Valentino, 6, 129, 140, 166, 192, 209, 210–11, 265

Vanderbilt, Cornelius, II, 190

Van Gogh, Vincent, 44, 56–57, 120, 151–52

Vanity Fair
(magazine), 14, 214, 256

Vargas, Getúlio, 20, 24, 25, 47

Vaz, Rubens Florentino, 47

Veiga, Gastão, 16, 17, 18–19, 24, 31, 34, 35, 43

Vergé, Roger, 191

Versace, Donatella, 261

Viellard, Henri, 237, 238

Vreeland, Diana, 6

 

Wall Street Journal
, 113–14, 183

Walters, Barbara, 193

Watkins, Annita (Lily's mother), 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 32, 63, 276, 290

Watkins, Artigas (Lily's brother), 20, 63, 67, 77, 276–77, 277

Watkins, Daniel (Lily's brother), 20, 27, 35, 146, 206, 276, 290

Watkins, Lily.
See
Safra, Lily

Watkins, Malvina (Daniel's wife), 276

Watkins, Rodolpho (Lily's brother), 19–20

Watkins, Wolf White (Lily's father), 16, 18–25, 30, 31–34, 275–76

death of, 34

grave site of, 276–77, 290

move to Brazil by, 20–22

Weiner, Nina, 166, 210, 287

Weiner, Walter, 115, 119, 126–27, 166, 210, 216

Welles, Orson, 40, 43

Wharton, Edith, 190

White, Peter, 113

Wiesel, Elie, 209, 249

Women's Wear Daily
, 6, 7–8, 163, 183, 188–89, 191, 192, 193, 210, 218, 252, 260, 262–63

World Wildlife Fund, 219

Wustrau, Todd, 245–46

Wyatt, Lynn, 7, 192–93, 261, 262

Wyatt, Oscar, 192–93, 262

 

Yasmin Aga Khan, Princess, 8

Yosef, Ovadia, 163

 

Zilkha, Ezra and Cecile, 262, 265

Zipkin, Jerry, 6

Zucker, Willard, 147–48, 150, 185–86

Zweig, Stefan, 39

I
CAUGHT A GLIMPSE
of Dominick Dunne on the first day of the Sotheby's auction of property from the collections of Lily and Edmond J. Safra in New York. In his tortoiseshell glasses and impeccably tailored English suit, he appeared to be deeply absorbed in the catalogue, which featured exquisite European furniture and objets d'art. But upon closer inspection, he was really surveying the crowd for the moneyed glitterati he regularly covered for Vanity Fair.

It was November 2005, and I was preparing to leave for Brazil to begin the research for this book. Dominick had already been writing about Lily and the events in Monaco for at least five years. Standing outside the auction room on the second floor of Sotheby's on York Avenue, I resolved that I was not going to speak to him until my own work on Lily Safra was complete. I didn't want to be influenced by his reporting; I wanted to be discreet.

Three years later we met at a dinner, and Dominick was keen to talk about Lily, whom he found endlessly fascinating. I demurred, but a year later we met again and agreed to meet for lunch at Patroon in Midtown Manhattan, where I tentatively handed him part of the manuscript for this book. Our lunches turned into a routine. He always arrived early and would be seated at his table, observing the well-dressed lunchtime crowd, many of whom stopped by to pay their respects to the legendary journalist and author. Over lobster
rolls and Diet Cokes, we talked about the Safra case and other stories we were both following. He spoke about his own book
Too Much Money
, which he was in the process of editing, and which was based on real-life Manhattan socialites.

Lingering over espresso, I summoned up the nerve to hand him a manila envelope with the remaining chapters of my book. I was encouraged by his enthusiastic response to what he had read so far. After lunch, I walked him the few blocks to his apartment on East Forty-ninth Street. It was the last time I saw him. He seemed tired and weak, so I blurted out the only thing I could think of that might make him feel better.

“We all have to keep going,” I told him. “We all have to keep searching for the truth.”

He perked up right away, and took my hand: “You betcha,” he said. “But, it's up to you now.”

Three weeks later, in late August 2009, Dominick Dunne passed away after a long battle with bladder cancer. I handed in the manuscript to my publisher. I remain forever grateful to him for his generosity and confidence in me.

 

THE RESEARCH FOR
this book was often frustrating and logistically challenging, taking place on three continents. In Rio de Janeiro, my efforts were often confounded by officious bureaucrats and messy archives. I can no longer remember how many times I trudged to the Instituto Médico Legal, the coroner's office in the down-at-heels Lapa neighborhood, in search of Alfredo Monteverde's autopsy report. First, I was told that the 1969 documents did not exist. On another visit, I was told they did exist, but that they were on microfilm. However, I couldn't view the microfilm because the machine was broken. When I offered them a hefty deposit to take the film elsewhere for viewing, they refused. They also refused my repeated offers to pay for the repair of the machine. As with most things in Brazil, at the
moment you lose faith that anything will work in your favor, that's when things magically turn around. And so the Brazilian magic—the
jeitinho brasileiro
—worked for me a year into my research when the autopsy report, complete with detailed police photographs of the corpse, materialized after a chance encounter with a young lawyer.

I am a great believer in that Brazilian
jeitinho
—the magic that saw me through four difficult years of research. I am deeply thankful to my neighbor in Copacabana, Gastão Veiga, who vividly recalled his old neighbor and business associate Wolf White Watkins and Lily as a young woman. Rio socialite Ruth de Almeida Prado was also very helpful, and I will never forget interviewing this aged grande dame in her sprawling penthouse, across the street from the Copacabana Palace Hotel, as she sat riveted to a Formula One race on television.

I also want to thank the staff of the National Archives in Rio de Janeiro, who met my difficult requests for information with good humor and rare efficiency. The staff of the Colegio Anglo-Americano, particularly the school's de facto historian Renée Grossman, generously gave me access to old school records.

Although many people I tried to interview simply refused to speak about the Safra and Monteverde families, others were extremely generous with their time and stories. Maria Consuelo Ayres, president of the Fundação Alfredo Monteverde, was one of these sources, and she spoke to me at length about the early days of Ponto Frio, and the events of August 25, 1969. Thank you to Albert Nasser, Ana Bentes Bloch, Al Abitbol, Victor Sztern, Lourdes Mattos, Sonia Mattos, Rosy Fanto, Masha Monterosa, and Guilherme Castello Branco for their stories of Alfredo, Lily, Edmond, and their families. Marcelo Steinfeld opened up his home on Icatu Street in Rio and allowed me to wander through the second-floor master suite where Alfredo Monteverde spent his final moments.

I am greatly indebted to Laurinda Soares Navarro for welcoming me into her home on several occasions and reliving some of the most traumatic events of her life.

There were dozens of others in both Brazil and Argentina who were extremely helpful with contacts and making introductions to the rarefied universe of South American high society. I am grateful to them and to the medical examiners and retired police officers who guided me through autopsy and ballistics reports in Rio. They are not named here at their own request.

My dear friend Nélida Piñón was an inspiration and a support, and, when I was writing the manuscript, provided me with an office that had a spectacular view of Rio.

Samuel Bendahan, Lily's third husband, was a great source of insight and information. He was extremely patient and generous with his time, and brutally honest about his own life with Lily. I thank him for trusting me to tell his story for the first time.

In New York, I relied on several sources who wish to remain anonymous.

Eli Attia, Edmond's architect, was extremely generous with his time. Michael Griffith, one of Ted Maher's attorneys, was always ready to answer trial-related questions. I am also grateful to Ted Maher for his cooperation and to the other members of his legal team in Monaco.

At Harper Collins, I want to thank Claire Wachtel for her vision and careful editing. I am also very grateful to Julia Novitch and Beth Silfin. For years, David Kilgour has been a brilliant editor and good friend. I thank him for seeing me through this book. Thanks also to my agent Dorian Karchmar and my good friends Serena French, Jean McNeil, Sasha Josipovicz, and Milosh Pavlovicz.

Lauren Ramsby, my first editor at the
New York Post
, has been a great supporter of me and my work. Thank you also to Steve Lynch, Paul McPolin, and all of my colleagues at the Sunday
Post
, who are among the finest journalists I have ever encountered.

I am also grateful to Kenneth Whyte, editor and publisher of
Mac-leans
, who published my news stories from South America during the critical years of research for this book. Thank you also to Priscilla
Painton, formerly of
Time
, for her encouragement, and to Deborah Frank at
Departures
and Jeffries Blackerby at the
New York Times.

Finally, I want to thank my family, who encouraged the move to the other end of the world during the research for this book, even though the frustrations and challenges of life in a foreign country often seemed overwhelming.