Aristotle Onassis was born in Smyrna, Turkey. He was the only son of Aristotle Socrates Onassis, an administrator for the Greek government-in-exile during World War I, and his wife, the former Eleni Livanos. At age 17, he went to Paris to study law at the Sorbonne University.
Afterward he entered the French Foreign Legion, where he served for three years.
Onassis graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy in 1952, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa Society.
He earned a Juris Doctor degree from Columbia Law School in 1959. He practiced law in New York City before moving to Texas in 1966 to take over his father's oil company, Onassis Shipping Enterprises
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He eventually became president of Onassis Shipping Enterprises and then, in 1967, president of the Onassis Corporation.
In 1968, Onassis purchased the Hellenic Lines shipping company and renamed it Olympic Oil Company (OOC). In 1970 he merged OOC with another company owned by him to form ONEX Corporation. In 1974 he moved to New York City and established ONEX Corporation as a holding company for all of his businesses in conjunction with Thomas H.
Lee Partners and The Bank of New York. His business empire eventually included interests in numerous industries including telecommunications, airlines and property development.
Onassis died on March 23, 1975 at age 54 in Athens after suffering a heart attack while swimming at a resort on Hydra Island near Greece's capital city. He is buried in the family mausoleum at Mon Repos on Capri Island near Naples.
