Swiss billionaire Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, famed for possessing one of the world’s largest collections of art, died of a heart attack on Saturday aged 81, at his home in Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Spain. The aristocrat and jet-setter passed away during the early hours of the morning. His wife, the Baroness Thyssen, Carmen Cervera was with him.
The baron’s wife was among the mourners gathered on Sunday for a memorial service in Spain to honour the grandson of a small businessman-turned-German steel baron who ran a $2.7 billion empire and gathered a fine art collection which is said to be second only to that of Queen Elizabeth II. After the news of the industrial magnate’s death, a black sash was hung over the entrance to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid, where hundreds of pieces from his collection, bought by Spain for $338 million in 1993 at a fraction of its value, are permanently housed.
Born on April 13, 1921, aged 26 Baron Thyssen inherited 60 per cent of his father Heinrich’s multi-billion dollar estate, full control of family’s business interests and about 500 works of art. Over the next half-century, he augmented the art collection, which included Holbein’s painting of Henry VIII – bought in 1937 for £10,000 and now worth £55 million – with over 1,000 more sculptures, paintings and tapestries, ranging from Old Masters to pop art. It was his fifth wife, former Miss Spain Carmen Cervera, whom he married in 1985, who reportedly persuaded him to keep his works in her home country.
The baron, who will be buried in Germany at the family mausoleum at Schloss Landsberg csatle on Tuesday, is survived by his widow Carmen, her son Borja, whom he adopted, and four children from his previous marriages: Francesca, Georg, Lorne and Wilfred.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
