Barbara Piasecka Johnson, a Polish farmer's daughter who worked as a maid for an American heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune before marrying him and eventually inheriting much of his wealth, died on Monday April 1, 2013 at the age of 76.
Barbara, who went by the diminuitive "Basia," was born Feb. 25, 1937 in an area of prewar eastern Poland that now lies in Belarus.
Johnson, the widow of J. Seward Johnson Sr., became embroiled in a nasty and prominent legal battle when her husband died in 1983. The feud pitted her against her late husband's six children, from two previous marriages. She prevailed and got much of his fortune.
A resident of Monaco, Johnson was one of the world's richest women and an avid art collector.
She will be buried April 15 in Wroclaw, the southwestern Polish city where she grew up.
Barbara, who went by the diminuitive "Basia," was born Feb. 25, 1937 in an area of prewar eastern Poland that now lies in Belarus.
Johnson, the widow of J. Seward Johnson Sr., became embroiled in a nasty and prominent legal battle when her husband died in 1983. The feud pitted her against her late husband's six children, from two previous marriages. She prevailed and got much of his fortune.
A resident of Monaco, Johnson was one of the world's richest women and an avid art collector.
She will be buried April 15 in Wroclaw, the southwestern Polish city where she grew up.
Barbara Piasecka Johnson, a Polish farmer's daughter who worked as a maid for an American heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune before marrying him and eventually inheriting much of his wealth, died on Monday April 1, 2013 at the age of 76.
Barbara, who went by the diminuitive "Basia," was born Feb. 25, 1937 in an area of prewar eastern Poland that now lies in Belarus.
Johnson, the widow of J. Seward Johnson Sr., became embroiled in a nasty and prominent legal battle when her husband died in 1983. The feud pitted her against her late husband's six children, from two previous marriages. She prevailed and got much of his fortune.
A resident of Monaco, Johnson was one of the world's richest women and an avid art collector.
She will be buried April 15 in Wroclaw, the southwestern Polish city where she grew up.
Barbara, who went by the diminuitive "Basia," was born Feb. 25, 1937 in an area of prewar eastern Poland that now lies in Belarus.
Johnson, the widow of J. Seward Johnson Sr., became embroiled in a nasty and prominent legal battle when her husband died in 1983. The feud pitted her against her late husband's six children, from two previous marriages. She prevailed and got much of his fortune.
A resident of Monaco, Johnson was one of the world's richest women and an avid art collector.
She will be buried April 15 in Wroclaw, the southwestern Polish city where she grew up.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
