Renowned American-Belgian diamond merchant Maurice Tempelsman has died.
His family says he died in New York on Saturday at the age of 95. His death at a Manhattan hospital was caused by complications from a fall, his son Leon has told United States (US) media.
Tempelsman was well known for his entanglements with some African leaders.
The Namibian has in the past reported that Tempelsman was a sightholder through Lazare Kaplan Diamonds Namibia, which had a stake in Namdeb’s sightholder subsidiary NamGem.
Through the New York-based global diamond empire Lazare Kaplan International, he had strong connections with Namibia’s political kingpins, including founding president Sam Nujoma and late president Hage Geingob.
His Namibian business partner was Nujoma’s late brother-in-law Aaron Mushimba, an empowerment magnate.
Tempelsman also supported Namibia’s liberation struggle when it was taken up at the United Nations before independence.
He was well known for his late-in-life friendship with former US first lady Jackie Onassis.
– Additional own reporting
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