Cynthia Lennon, John Lennon's first wife, has died at the age of 75 at her home in Mallorca, as announced by her son Julian Lennon on her website.
"Cynthia Lennon has died at her home in Mallorca, Spain, after a brief but brave battle against cancer. Her son Julian Lennon was next to her," it is explained on the website without specify the date of her death.
Cynthia Powell and John Lennon had met at an art school in Liverpool in 1957, before 'Beatlemania' turned Lennon into an icon. John and Cynthia married on August 23, 1962 in Liverpool, in a ceremony attended by the other three members of the Beatles -Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr-, and became parents in April 1963 with the birth by Julian.
During the group's early years of success, John avoided publicizing his marriage, to the point that many of his fans were unaware that he was married and had a child.
Cynthia witnessed the band's rise until 1968, when Lennon left his wife for Japanese artist Yoko Ono. A year later, Lennon married Yoko.
After a turbulent divorce court process, the couple reached an agreement in which the musician agreed to pay 100,000 pounds at the time to Cynthia and gave her custody of Julian.
According to documents from that process that came to light this year, Cynthia's defense presented the musician as a man with sudden mood swings, who aggressively reprimanded his son and abused drugs.
In an interview in 2009, on the occasion of an exhibition in Liverpool of her photographs and correspondence, Lennon's former wife told the BBC that neither she nor her son held "acrimony against anyone."
"What was John's personality like? He wasn't someone you wanted to deal with, so to speak. You either loved him or you hated him, and he's still that way now, even though he's not here," she said.
"He would never denigrate any (of the Beatles), really, because I think his talent was just magical. He will last forever," Cynthia said on that occasion.
Hunter Davies, author of the only official biography of the Beatles, written in 1968, explained to local media that she was a "quiet, reserved and calm woman, totally different from John", who treated her "horribly", according to the writer. .
"While working on the book I spent over two years with them, visiting her house and spending time with her. She was a wonderful woman," Davies described.
"I think there was an attraction between them of opposite poles. When they started dating at art school everyone was surprised. She was refined and reserved, no one thought it would last," he said.
