Porfirio Rubirosa

Porfirio Rubirosa 1954

Porfirio Rubirosa with his wife Odile Rodin

Porfirio Rubirosa Ariza (born January 22, 1909 in San Francisco de Macorís in the Cibao region , † July 5, 1965 in Paris ) was a diplomat of the Dominican Republic , polo player, racing driver and playboy .

Life

Rubirosa was born the son of a Dominican general . He grew up in Paris because his father worked there in the Dominican Republic embassy . At the age of 17 Rubirosa returned to his homeland and began studying law . He later broke off his studies and went to the military.

Rubirosa married the daughter of the dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina , Flor de Oro Trujillo. The marriage soon ended in divorce. Rubirosa traveled to France again as he was appointed a diplomat by his father-in-law. Rubirosa revived in Paris, he first married the actress Danielle Darrieux , later the millionaire heiresses Doris Duke and Barbara Hutton as well as the model Odile Rodin . He became a pilot, racing driver (he competed several times in the Le Mans 24-hour race ), polo player, playboy and entered into various relationships with women. In addition to a relationship with Zsa Zsa Gabor, the author Andreas Zielcke lists other relationships: Dolores del Río , Ava Gardner , Joan Crawford , Jayne Mansfield , Marilyn Monroe , Susan Hayward , La Môme Moineau , Evita Perón .

Rubirosa died at the age of 56 in a car accident in Paris when his Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet hit a chestnut tree on Avenue de la Reine-Marguerite in the Bois de Boulogne . The cause of the accident was initially given as a damage to the steering gear. It later became known that Rubirosa had spent a long night of partying in a trendy bar, Jimmy's nightclub, before setting off to celebrate the victory of his polo team's Coupe de France. He then got drunk and sat behind the wheel of his sports car. On the way at too high a speed, he came off the rain-soaked road around eight in the morning, first brushed another car and finally hit a tree. He succumbed to his injuries while driving to the hospital.

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1950	Luigi Chinetti	Ferrari 166 MM	Pierre Leygonie	failure	Clutch damage
1954	Luigi Chinetti	Ferrari 375MM	Innocente Baggio	failure	accident

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1954	Scuderia Lancia	Lancia D24	Luigi Valenzano		Rank 2 and class win
1955	Porfirio Rubirosa	Ferrari 500 Mondial	Cal Niday		failure	accident
1956	Porfirio Rubirosa	Ferrari 500 Mondial	James Pauley		Rank 10
1958	Porfirio Rubirosa	Ferrari 500TRC	Jean-François Malle	William Helburn	Rank 11

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th
1954	Lancia Luigi Chinetti Dominicana	Lancia D24 Ferrari 375MM Ferrari 500 Mondial	BUA	SEB	MIM	LEM	RTT	CAP
				2		DNF		DNF
1955	Porfirio Rubirosa	Ferrari 500 Mondial	BUA	SEB	MIM	LEM	RTT	TAR
				DNF
1956	Porfirio Rubirosa	Ferrari 500 Mondial	BUA	SEB	MIM	ONLY	KRI
				10
1958	Porfirio Rubirosa	Ferrari 500TRC	BUA	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	RTT
				11

literature

• Cédric Meletta, Tombeau pour Rubirosa. un roman, Paris, Séguier, 2018.
• Michel Ferracci-Porri : La Môme Moineau. La vie fabuleuse et tragique de la femme la plus riche du monde. Éditions Normant, Nantes 2006, ISBN 2-915685-28-2 .
• Andreas Zielcke: The last playboy. The life of Porfirio Rubirosa. LSD (Lagerfeld, Steidl, Druckerei Verlag) published by Steidl Verlag, Göttingen 2015, ISBN 978-3-86930-948-4 .
• Armin Kratzert : Playboy . Novel. Salzburg 2004

Web links

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