Jocelyne Wildenstein, a Swiss socialite and a fervent lover of cosmetic surgery, who was sometimes dubbed “Catwoman” due to her extensive plastic surgeries, has passed away, her partner announced.
“It is with a heavy heart and great sadness that Mr Lloyd Klein announces the unexpected death of his beloved fiancée and longtime companion, Jocelyne Wildenstein,” the fashion designer said in an English – language statement sent to the Agence France – Presse news agency.
Klein said that “Mrs Wildenstein died peacefully in her sleep in the late afternoon of December 31st, 2024 in her … suite in Paris where the couple had taken temporary residence.”
Wildenstein, whose original name was Jocelynnys Dayannys da Silva Bezerra Périsset, became a New York socialite after marrying the art dealer Alec Wildenstein, from the French art – dealing and thoroughbred – racing dynasty. The couple had two children together. She was variously referred to as Jocelyne and Jocelyn in the English – language media. She was born in 1940 in Lausanne, Switzerland, and died on December 31 at the age of 84.
It was Wildenstein’s extensive self – transformation to resemble a wild big cat that caught the public’s eye, along with a reported $2.5 – billion divorce settlement and $100 million each year for 13 years afterward.
She had spent time in Africa with the European film – maker Sergio Gobbi. She told New York magazine: “Africa is a paradise. You meet people who look at life differently. They love the adventure.”
She met her husband, Alec Wildenstein, during a safari in Kenya and married him a year later in Las Vegas. Then Wildenstein embarked on a cosmetic journey to look more like a big cat.
According to the Daily Mail, she spent £2 million on surgeries, seemingly to please her husband, who adored big cats. She kept a lynx as a pet and told Vanity Fair “the lynx has perfect eyes”.
But her husband told Vanity Fair: “She was crazy. I would always find out last. She was thinking that she could fix her face like a piece of furniture. Skin does not work that way. But she wouldn’t listen.”
However, a messy divorce ensued, accompanied by rumors spread by her ex – husband that she had been a courtesan with Madame Claude, the Parisian bordello owner. During the divorce, it was reported that he had slashed her monthly allowance from $150,000 to $50,000.
A judge overseeing her divorce settlement reportedly stipulated that she could not use any of the settlement for further surgeries.
“I never wanted to change my face,” she told the French television news channel C8 this autumn, though admitting she might have wanted her lips to be a little thicker.
She denied rumors that she underwent cosmetic surgeries to keep her ex – husband.
Interview magazine once remarked that Wildenstein had “been one of the jet – set’s most outrageous characters for nearly five decades”. In a conversation with the outlet, Wildenstein estimated that she spent more than $700,000 a year on food, wine, flowers, pills and more, adding “and that was just the beginning”.
While some saw extremism, others saw beauty.
“I remember seeing you once at Beige [a legendary Tuesday – night party at the Bowery Bar and Grill in New York City]. It was burned into my brain forever because the glamour was turned up so high,” wrote the editor and interviewer Mel Ottenberg.
Ottenberg asked Wildenstein about her love for big cats. She explained that there were 2,000 animals under protection at Ol Jogi [the Wildenstein family ranch in Kenya].
“We have everything except lions, because they would kill what we are trying to protect,” she said. When asked for her favorite animal, she said she liked all animals, but finally settled on the leopard, saying it was because they become attached to only one person.
“Leopards are jealous,” she said.
Wildenstein said that the huge press attention based on her appearance had usefully kept her in the public eye during her divorce.“Journalists can say whatever they like … it’s really not my problem.”
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