Jocelyn Wildenstein

She met Alec N. Wildenstein, the son of renowned French art dealer, Daniel Wildenstein, while on a safari with friends in Kenya, in 1977. Her future husband was engaged with inspecting family property (the 66,000-acre ‘Ol Jogi’) when the socialite struck up an acquaintance with him by asking if she could accompany him on a hunt. Both of them were involved with other people at that time¬: Jocelyn was dating Gobbi, and Alec was in a relationship with Maria Kimberly, a Ford model and star of French filmmaker Jacques Tati’s ‘Traffic.’ These relationships were dissolved soon afterward.

The couple eloped to Las Vegas on April 30, 1978 , where they reportedly married, despite objections from Alec’s father, Daniel Wildenstein. Their marriage vows were solemnized by a rabbi, and Jocelyn later claimed that Alec had been keen to have her converted to Judaism. The senior Wildenstein did not attend their second ceremony in Lausanne and encouraged Kimberly to win his son’s affections back.

During the early years of their marriage, the couple lived in New York’s ‘Olympic Tower,’ before moving to a townhouse on East 64th Street. The newly married couple had their first plastic surgeries together, a year into their marriage, when Jocelyn told her husband that his eyes looked “baggy.” Thus began Jocelyn’s lifelong obsession with surgery, with her husband later remarking that she intended to “fix her face like a piece of furniture.” Over the years, Jocelyn grew obsessed with looking like a lynx (supposedly, to keep the cat-loving Alec happy), resulting in a distinctive appearance that has invited a lot of scrutiny. However, she denies these rumors, insisting that her increasingly bizarre appearance is the result of genetics.

Jocelyn was born Jocelyn Périsset, on August 5, 1940, in Lausanne, Switzerland. Her father was employed at a sports goods store. Not much is known of her early years. Her mother later suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and was supported by Daniel Wildenstein, her father-in-law, at ‘Ol Jogi.’

She began dating a Swiss movie producer named Cyril Piguet at the age of 17, and two years later, they moved to Paris together. Wildenstein later said that her life “changed then,” as freed from the “plain” Lausanne, she was finally able to meet “exciting, glamorous” people.

After breaking up with Piguet, she dated Italian–French filmmaker Sergio Gobbi for five years. She traveled extensively during these years, exploring Africa in particular, which fascinated her endlessly. She met Wildenstein there. At some point during this period, she was also associated with Adnan Khashoggi, the Saudi arms dealer, who introduced her to Wildenstein.

Jocelyn told ‘The New York Times’ that she had no interest in a traditional career, stating that her talents lay elsewhere. She declared in the same interview that she was “maybe extremely good at decoration.” S ubsequently, her career as a wife and socialite became inextricably intertwined with her personal life, which continues to be the case, as of 2018.

Wildenstein was known for her love of water-skiing on the Zambezi, which is infested with crocodiles. She also reportedly swam there.

She and Alec Wildenstein once stated that they spent an average of US$ 1 million in a single month.

For their daughter Diane’s 17th birthday, the Wildenstein couple built her a mansion at ‘Ol Jogi,’ worth US$ 3 million.