Giovanni Meneghini

Italian entrepreneur, the husband of opera diva Maria Callas. He met Callas in 1947 when he was 32 years her senior. Despite the opposition of both families, they wed on 21 April 1949 in Verona, with no family members in attendance. With his wealth and experience, Meneghini transformed her into a glamorous star. Since Callas was prone to fragile health, he would not let her bear children, thinking it might harm her physical well-being as well as her career.

The marriage began its demise when they took a cruise on the Christina in the summer of 1959. Callas met Aristotle Onassis on the great ship, which Onassis owned and she began an affair with the Greek tycoon a year later.

In 1975, Callas rejected Meneghini's offer of reconciliation and she died of a heart attack at her Paris home on 16 September 1977.