Death of Jocelyne Wildenstein, nicknamed the “cat woman”

Jocelyne Wildenstein, a jet-set figure nicknamed “the cat woman” because of her numerous recourse to cosmetic surgery, died Tuesday in Paris, her companion told AFP on Wednesday, confirming information from the celebrity press.

“Her companion Lloyd Klein is saddened to announce the death of Jocelyne Wildensetein in Paris at the age of 79,” he told AFP on Wednesday. An “icon is gone”.

She died of a pulmonary embolism in a Parisian palace, he said.

Followed by 1.1 million subscribers on Instagram, Jocelyne Wildenstein was known for her numerous facial cosmetic procedures and the legends surrounding her physical transformation, with some saying that she wanted to look like a feline at all costs or that she had spent millions to achieve this.

Living between New York and Miami, she had recently given several interviews on television in France where she spoke about her highly publicized divorce and her operations.

“My (ex)husband thought it was a very good advertisement to broadcast during the divorce,” she said recently in a program presented by Cyril Hanouna.

Born in Lausanne (Switzerland) on September 7, 1945, Jocelyne Perisset entered the world of New York high society by marrying the art dealer Alec Wildenstein, whose surname she kept after their divorce in 1998 and with whom she had two children.

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