Elisabeth Maxwell (born Élisabeth Jenny Jeanne Meynard) is a French-born Holocaust scholar and the widow of Robert Maxwell. She married Maxwell in Paris in 1945 after meeting during World War II and remained with him through his rise to media mogul status, his mysterious death in 1991, and the subsequent revelation of massive pension fund fraud. Elisabeth was the mother of nine children, including Ghislaine Maxwell.

Elisabeth and Robert Maxwell had nine children together, including Michael (died 1961), Philip, Ian, Kevin, Christine, Isabel, Karine, Ghislaine (youngest daughter), and Anne. Biographical accounts describe Robert Maxwell as domineering and abusive within his family, with Ghislaine reportedly being his favorite child.

On November 5, 1991, Robert Maxwell disappeared from his yacht near the Canary Islands. His body was recovered and death was officially ruled accidental drowning. Within weeks, auditors discovered approximately $670 million was missing from Mirror Group pension funds, resulting in criminal prosecution of sons Ian and Kevin (both later acquitted in 1996) and extensive civil litigation. Elisabeth Maxwell's direct connection to Jeffrey Epstein has not been documented. However, as matriarch of the Maxwell family, her daughter Ghislaine became Epstein's partner and co-conspirator, and her husband Robert allegedly worked with Epstein in the early 1980s. There is no evidence that Elisabeth had knowledge of or involvement in Ghislaine's criminal activities.

Sources

Various biographical accounts of Robert Maxwell; Court records regarding Mirror Group pension fraud case.