Maurice Tempelsman, Belgian-American diamond magnate and longtime companion of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, died on August 23, 2025, at 95, from complications after a fall in Manhattan.
Born in 1929 in Antwerp, Tempelsman fled Nazi persecution in 1940, resettling in New York. He joined his family’s diamond business, becoming a key figure in the international diamond trade and brokering U.S. government deals for African industrial diamonds. A prominent Democratic donor, he was well-connected with figures like John F. Kennedy and Madeline Albright.
Tempelsman’s friendship with Jacqueline began in 1961, evolving into a romance after Aristotle Onassis’s death in 1975. As her financial advisor, he doubled her $26 million inheritance and was her devoted caretaker during her 1993 lymphatic cancer battle, staying by her side until her death in 1994. At her funeral, he read “Ithaka” by C.P. Cavafy.
Survived by three children—Leon, Rena, and Marcy—grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, Tempelsman’s quiet, loyal bond with Jacqueline defined his later years.
