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Barbara Piasecka was born in a Belarusian village, in the Grodno poviat, as the youngest of four children of poor farmers. Despite this not very favorable start and the difficult material situation of the family She had ambitions to break free from her environment. She wanted to study and earn money. She managed to end the history of art and philosophy in Wrocław. However, she was not satisfied with the clerical job at the National Museum, so she decided to go to Italy and later to the United States. When leaving, she was to swear that “if she came back, then only Rolls-Royc.” Maybe not quite literally, but the prophecy came true.
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“She certainly had a difficult life,” said Ewa Winnicka, author of the book “Millionaire. Barbara Piasecka Johnson” a few years ago in an interview with PAP. Really – Initially, Barbara's life in New York did not go as she wanted. She had to give up professional ambitions related to art and start making a living. She was lucky. She met a woman who worked at the residence of the American millionaire, John Seward Johnson, and his second wife Esther Underwood – the creators of the cosmetic giant Johnson & Johnson. This recommended her with her employers. This is how Piasecka met her future husband.
Barbara Piasecka with a bad cook with a “charming smile”
First she was to become a cook at Johnson, but she wasn't doing well in the kitchen, so She finally worked as a maid. The master of the house was supposed to talk about her that “he has a face like a potato, but a charming smile.” John Seward was 73 years old at the time, or about 40 years more than Barbara, and his cosmetic empire was flourishing at the time and already had factories in many countries of the world. It was the beginning of the 1970s.
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Barbara Piasecka worked at the businessman's house less than a year. She had other plans than cleaning in strangersshe wanted to continue to study. So she terminated the contract. Farewell, Johnson was to give her his private phone number, and soon he spoke to her. Allegedly with a job proposal, but it is not really known if they were no longer at the stage of intimate intimacy. Barbara became the curator of his collection of works of art. This was already a dream come true for her because she could work according to her education.
The third wife of the American millionaire
Knowledge bloomed, and the age difference did not interfere with the developing closeness. There were joint travels and meetings at the Johnson seaside estate in Florida. Finally – a wedding proposal was made. Barbara Piasecka became the third wife of a cosmetic tycoon and at the same time salt in the eye of the American elites.
“The American society could not forgive Barbara, she was a hunter of estates for them, someone who tricked them to break into their sphere. Despite the appearances of kindness, they treated her with contempt,” said Ewa Winnicka in an interview with PAP.
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The essence of the relationship between Johnson and Barbara Piasecka remained a mystery to the end. It is not known if it was a great love, especially since the millionaire was known for his passion for romance “on the side”or calculation, and if so, on whose side stronger. They were married for 12 years until Johnson's death.
Barbara Piasecka Johnson took part in a trial involving two hundred lawyers
John Seward Johnson died of a prostate cancer. Before his death, he changed his will, destroyed the intercision, He disinherited six of his children and wrote most of the fortune to Barbara. This unleashed a court battle with the participation of descendants outraged by the decision.
Johnson vs. trial Johnson was one of the largest in America's history. Apparently, more than two hundred lawyers were involved, who were to earn about $ 24 million on their services. Preparations for the trial were to last three years, and the process itself – 17 weeks. The details of the life and property of Barbara and John Seward became the theme of the American press, but the Polish woman was not on the side. Public opinion in the US still considered her a clever dowry hunter.
March 1986. Barbara Piasecka in court, before the trial with the children of John Seward Johnson
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Yvonne Hemsey / Contributor / Getty Images
Everything went well, however. By a settlement with the children of the deceased husband Barbara zThe heir of a fortune worth $ 350 million was last. The rest of the property was divided between Johnson's children. Barbara was later to multiply significantly. She also retained the 18 million participation in the actions of Johnson & Johnson. After the end of the “historical” trial, Barbara Piasecka Johnson went to the cover of the prestigious magazine “Vanity Fair” as the only Polish woman in history.
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Polish millionaire “was a kind of Pharaoh”
After the trial, Barbara devoted herself to what she loved the most: art. Developed a family collection of antiques and works of art, regularly earning it, thanks to which She climbed the position of one of the richest Polish women and more. With property, estimated at nearly $ 3 billion, she regularly appeared on the lists of the richest people in the world, published by “Forbes”. Among others In 2001, “Forbes” included her in the 20 richest women in the world, and in 2011 she was in the 393th place among the richest people in the world.
Barbara Piasecka-Johnson. Photo from 1992
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Agency Gazeta
Her place on earth and at the same time a “eye in her head”, which she constantly cared for was the estate in Princeton, called Jasna Polana. After her husband's death, she brought her loved ones to her, although her relatives and friends supposedly played the role of employees there than residents. Barbara was known for the strict treatment of people. Ewa Winnicka, the author of the book about Piasecka Johnson, called her in an interview with “Humorzasta and demanding to the limits of absurdity”, although despite this accepted by employees.
In Jasna Polana, Barbara was a kind of Pharaoh who divided, ruled and required full subordination. There are legends about how she ordered to tempt the facade of the palace being built several times to get the right shade of the facade. This led to rationally thinking people, who had some knowledge about building realities, to a white fever – said the author of the publication in an interview with PAP.
Barbara Piasecka Johnson spent the last years of her life in Poland. She died on April 1, 2013 in Sobótka near Wrocław. She lived 76 years.
