#211 Aristotle Onassis: An Extravagant Life

**David Senra** (0:00)
I want to tell you about a one-time only limited event that I don't think you're going to want to miss. I am doing a live show with Patrick O'Shaughnessy from the Invest Like the Best podcast in New York City on October 19th. Patrick has interviewed over 300 of the world's best investors and founders for his podcast. I've read over 300 biographies of history's greatest entrepreneurs for my podcast. We'll be talking about what we learned from seven years of podcasting, sharing our favorite ideas and stories, and doing a live Q&A. There will also be special event-only swag. If you live in New York City, I think it's a no-brainer. But if not, I think it's a great excuse to fly in. I've already heard from a bunch of people that bought tickets, they're flying in from other cities. Some people are flying in from other countries. That's setting the bar really high, so I will have at least four shots of espresso or four energy drinks before or during the show so we can make it a night that you'll never forget. If you're interested in attending this unique live event, I will leave a link down below. I highly recommend you get your tickets today, and I hope I get to see you in New York on October 19th. The city of Samurna was in flames. The Holocaust, one of the biggest in the world's history, was larger than the Great Fire of London in 1666 or the blaze that wrecked San Francisco in 1906
200,000 refugees jammed the city. Many had not eaten in days. There was an outbreak of typhoid. The harbor was packed with ships from many nations. Aggressive escapees of the flames swam to a nearby ship and attempted to climb aboard. They were beaten and shot.
A mile out to sea, the cries of the dying could be heard, intermixed with the frequent war and clash of exploding ammunition stores, which sounded like an intense infantry battle.
The Turks put up concentration camps on the outskirts of the city.
Aristotle Onassis worked his way through the flaming streets.
Some were impossible to traverse, not only because of the wreckage, but also because of the stench from the mass of corpses along the avenues.
Many were killed in the fire. The Turks executed many more in the days immediately preceding the Holocaust.
Hundreds of Greek men were taken from their homes and made to sit in the streets as the Turkish soldiers went systematically from man to man, slitting their throats.
This form of death saved ammunition. It was also particularly excruciating. The wives and daughters of the dead men were then raped and beaten. Those who refused to submit were immediately slaughtered. Aristotle attempted to get from the south of the city to his father's office in the north. It took him hours to just go a few blocks as he darted into doorways to hide from the Turkish patrols.
All around him, the fire raged. There was constant shooting followed by screams. Aristotle hid in the bushes of a church. Nearby, a Greek priest was stripped of his garments and then blinded with a red-hot sword. The man was dragged to the large doors of the church and soldiers crucified him by nailing horseshoes to his hands and feet.
He died shortly afterwards.
Aristotle realized that it was the same church where his mother and father were married.
That is an excerpt from the book that I'm going to talk to you about today, which is Onassis, An Extravagant Life, and it was written by Frank Brady. And that was a description of a historical event that Aristotle Onassis lived through. He was around 16 or 17 years old at the time. It's known as the Burning of Smyrna, also known as the Catastrophe of Smyrna. It occurs towards the end of the Greco-Turkish War. That is the major turning point in Onassis' life, where he goes from a privileged son of a very successful businessman to an almost penniless refugee in exile. And he has to actually flee to South America. So we'll get to that in a little bit. I want to go jump right into the book. Want to talk about his early life. Starts off with his very, very close relationship. He was actually raised by his grandmother.
And unfortunately, it's because part of this was also because his mom dies at a very early age. And so the book says, although he loved his mother and was close to her as a child, Aristotle was actually raised by his grandmother, a not so unusual occurrence where a Greek grandparent lives in the same house as her grandchildren. He grew closer to his grandmother when his mother found it impossible due to a sudden illness to spend virtually any time with the child. The diagnosis was a malfunctioning kidney. And it was thought that only a delicate operation could save her. Within a few days after she entered the hospital, she was dead of uremic poisoning, I don't know if I'm pronouncing that correctly, but uremic poisoning at the age of 25