Afdera Franchetti (8 July 1931 – 20 March 2025) was an Italian

baroness Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knight ...

. Franchetti was the fourth wife of American actor

Henry Fonda Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor whose career spanned five decades on Broadway theatre, Broadway and in Hollywood. On screen and stage, he often portrayed characters who embodied an everyman image. Bo ...

Background and family

The Italian Jewish Franchetti family, from the 18th century, was one of the wealthiest families in the Mediterranean. Afdera Franchetti was the daughter of Baron

Raimondo Franchetti Baron Raimondo Franchetti has been the name of more than one Italian people, Italian Baron, of the noble Franchetti family. The Franchettis were an Italian Jewish family who, from the 18th century onwards, were one of the wealthiest families in t ...

, a famous explorer who travelled extensively in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

and charted hitherto unexplored territories (Dancalia) during the 1920s. On his return from an expedition to Ethiopia, his plane exploded over Cairo in 1935. Raimondo's grandmother was Sara Louise de Rothschild. Her brother, the Baron Raimondo Nanuk Franchetti, was a friend of author

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...

, who hunted with him in Caorle Lagoon. The Franchetti siblings were named Nanuk, Afdera, Lorian and Simba; the last died early of tuberculosis.

Personal life and death

Franchetti claims to have attended the masked ball at

Palazzo Labia Palazzo Labia is a baroque palace in Venice, Italy. Built in the 17th–18th century, it is one of the last great Palazzo, palazzi of Venice. Little known outside of Italy, it is most notable for the remarkable frescoed ballroom painted 1746� ...

in 1951, as well as the ball of Baron de Redé at his palace

Hôtel Lambert The Hôtel Lambert () is an ''hôtel particulier,'' a grand mansion townhouse, built between 1640 and 1644 on the Quai Anjou on the eastern tip of the Île Saint-Louis, in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. In the 19th century, the name ''Hôtel La ...

Île Saint-Louis Île Saint-Louis (), in size, is one of two natural islands in the Seine river, in Paris, France (the other natural island is the Île de la Cité, where Notre-Dame de Paris is located). Île Saint-Louis is connected to the rest of Paris by fo ...

, Paris. Franchetti was married to Howard Taylor from 1954 to 1957. They met in Italy on a vacation. Franchetti was then married to

(1905–1982) from 1957 to 1961. They were introduced to each other by

Audrey Hepburn Audrey Kathleen Hepburn ( Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress. Recognised as a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend from the Classical Holly ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

while he was filming ''

War and Peace ''War and Peace'' (; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, the work comprises both a fictional narrative and chapters in which Tolstoy discusses history and philosophy. An ...

'' with Hepburn and

Mel Ferrer Melchor Gastón FerrerAncestry Library Edition (August 25, 1917 – June 2, 2008) was an American actor, director, and producer, active in film, theatre, and television. He achieved prominence on Broadway before scoring notable film hits with ...

. Hepburn had been struggling with infertility and had sought advice from Franchetti's sister, Simba. When she became pregnant straightaway, she felt a certain loyalty to the Franchetti family. She befriended Franchetti, which resulted in her meeting with Fonda. He was 48 and she, 22, when they met. Franchetti was roughly 25 years old when she married Fonda; his eldest child, Jane, was 18 years old. On reflection she says of her time with Fonda: "Look, I was spoiled. You see, I didn’t realize how lucky I was." Her affections were taken by

Henry Cubitt, 4th Baron Ashcombe Henry Edward Cubitt, 4th Baron Ashcombe (31 March 1924 – 4 December 2013), was a British hereditary peer. He was the son of Roland Cubitt, 3rd Baron Ashcombe, and Sonia Rosemary Keppel, and the uncle and godfather of Queen Camilla. Education ...

and she left Fonda. She was a friend to

Truman Capote Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics ...

, acquaintance of John F. and

Jackie Kennedy Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American writer, book editor, and socialite who served as the first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A popular f ...

and says of

Warren Beatty Henry Warren Beatty (né Beaty; born March 30, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. His career has spanned over six decades, and he has received an Academy Award and three Golden Globe Awards. He also received the Irving G. Thalberg Memor ...

that "He smelled of honey and like Lady Chatterley with her lover, he was the sort of man whose body you wanted to cover in daisy chains." Franchetti wrote her memoirs, ''Never Before Midday'', for publisher

George Weidenfeld George Weidenfeld, Baron Weidenfeld (13 September 1919 – 20 January 2016) was a British publisher, philanthropist, and newspaper columnist. He was also a lifelong Zionist and renowned master networker. He was on good terms with popes, prime mi ...

. Afdera Franchetti died in Milan on 20 March 2025, at the age of 93.

References

External links

* * Fonda, Afdera. ''Never Before Noon''
Ghostwriter Clifford Thurlow on the Franchetti autobiography

Video clip of Franchetti discussing the wedding of Camilla Parker Bowles
{{DEFAULTSORT:Franchetti, Afdera 1931 births 2025 deaths Italian nobility Italian emigrants to the United States People from Greater Los Angeles Franchetti family Afdera