Sir Paul Getty KBE

Sir Paul Getty KBE (7 September 1932 – 17 April 2003), known widely as John Paul Getty Jr., was a British philanthropist and book collector. He was the third of five sons born to J. Paul Getty (1892–1976), one of the richest men in the world at the time. His mother was J. Paul Getty's fourth wife, Ann Rork. The Getty family's wealth was the result of the oil business founded by George Franklin Getty. One of his sons, Mark Getty, co-founded the visual media company Getty Images.

At birth, he was given the name Eugene Paul Getty, but in later life, he adopted other names, including Paul Getty, John Paul Getty, Jean Paul Getty Jr. and John Paul Getty II. In 1973, his son John Paul Getty III was held captive in Italy, as J. Paul Getty refused to pay a ransom. In 1986, he was awarded an honorary knighthood for services to causes ranging from cricket, to art and to the Conservative Party. His honorary knighthood would eventually become substantive upon the required acquisition of British citizenship. A long-time Anglophile, he became a British citizen in 1997. In 1998 he changed his name by deed poll when he renounced the first name Eugene and wished to be known as Sir Paul Getty, KBE.

John Paul Jr. was born on board ship in the waters near Genoa, Italy, on 7 September 1932, while his parents Ann and J. Paul Getty were travelling. His birth was registered at La Spezia with the name Eugenio Paul Getty, when the Italian notary misheard the name John. He would legally alter his name with the Italian authorities to John Paul in 1958.

He was initially raised in Los Angeles, California, United States. His parents' marriage was troubled by J. Paul's long absences abroad and his emotional distance. Ann Getty divorced J. Paul Getty Sr. in 1936 in Reno, Nevada, claiming emotional cruelty and neglect. She was awarded $1,000 per month in child support for each of her sons, Paul Jr. and Gordon.

In 1938, Ann married her third husband, Joseph Stanton McInerney, and the family moved to San Francisco. Paul Jr. attended St. Ignatius College Preparatory and the University of San Francisco, both Jesuit schools. Throughout his adolescence, he showed a great interest in reading and music, encouraged by his mother. In 1950 he was drafted to serve in the Korean War, spending the duration working at the American headquarters in Seoul, South Korea. After he was discharged he met Abigail Harris, the daughter of a prominent San Franciscan federal judge, and the two were married in early 1956. His first child, John Paul Getty III was born in November 1956. The following year he approached his brother Gordon, vice-president of the Getty subsidiary Tidewater Petroleum, asking for a job. His brother gave him a job pumping gas at a Tidewater gas station in Marin County. After a year, his father, whom he had not seen in 12 years, was favourably impressed enough to invite his family and him to Paris, where he offered Paul Jr. a job as president of Getty Oil's Italian subsidiary, Getty Oil Italiana, in Rome.