Bianca Jagger

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Lore & Background

Bianca's life underwent a profound transformation after she joined a US congressional delegation at a UN refugee camp in Honduras in 1981. While observing the staff, she witnessed approximately 40 captured refugees marched away at gunpoint toward El Salvador by a death squad. Armed only with cameras to document the raid, Bianca and her colleagues trailed the group along a river. When within auditory range, they shouted at the M16 rifle-equipped raiders: "You will have to kill us all!" The squad approached, relieved them of their cameras, but ultimately released the captives. Describing this as "a turning point in my life," she dedicated herself to justice, opposing US intervention in Nicaragua after the Sandinista revolution, defending indigenous peoples like the Yanomami tribe against gold miners, and speaking out for victims in Bosnia and Serbia. She founded the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation and served as a Council of Europe Goodwill Ambassador.

In Their Own Story

Her journey began in Managua, Nicaragua, where she was born to an import-export merchant father and a housewife mother. After her parents divorced when she was ten, she changed her name from Blanca to Bianca at age 16 before receiving a scholarship to study political science at the Paris Institute of Political Studies. Her path crossed with Mick Jagger in September 1970 at a party following a Rolling Stones concert in France. On 12 May 1971, while four months pregnant, they married in a Roman Catholic ceremony in Saint-Tropez, France; their daughter Jade was born on 21 October 1971 in Paris. As the marriage deteriorated amidst Mick's adultery with model Jerry Hall, Bianca filed for divorce in May 1978. Seeking an independent identity, she debuted as an actress in Flesh Color (1978) and appeared in films like The Cannonball Run (1981) before retiring from acting to pursue humanitarian work.

Reader's Guide

Fans often recall her defining moments through the lens of 1970s glamour, particularly her famous photograph on a horse at Studio 54 on her 32nd birthday in 1977. She was a close friend of pop artist Andy Warhol, frequently appearing on the cover of his Interview magazine and interviewing figures like Steven Spielberg and Yves Saint Laurent. In May 2012, she caused minor controversy by taking flash photographs during Philip Glass's Einstein on the Beach at the Barbican in London. Beyond her socialite reputation, she holds dual nationality as a naturalised British citizen and Nicaraguan citizen. Her activism includes serving as IUCN's Global Ambassador for the Bonn Challenge, chairing the World Future Council from 2007 to 2009, and presenting at the Live Earth concert in Hamburg on 7 July 2007.

Did You Know?

• At age 16, she legally changed her name from Blanca to Bianca.
• She is the mother of one daughter, Jade, born on 21 October 1971.
• In 1981, she helped save 40 captured refugees in Honduras by shouting at a death squad: 'You will have to kill us all!'
• She was famously photographed riding a horse at Studio 54 for her 32nd birthday in 1977.
• She holds dual nationality as both a naturalised British citizen and a Nicaraguan citizen.