Alfonso de Bourbon

Alfonso de Bourbon Sampedro (born Leon Shafferman; 22 October 1932 – 10 January 2012), known as The Count, was a Swiss-American eccentric who claimed to be a descendant of the Spanish Royal Family and a first cousin of King Juan Carlos. Bourbon became one of the most recognizable residents of La Jolla, an affluent neighborhood of San Diego, California, where he lived for several decades. He was killed when a truck pinned him while he was dumpster diving.

Alfonso de Bourbon was born Leon Shafferman in the south of Switzerland, but changed his name in 1968. His family came from Egypt. Morris Shafferman, his father, was also an eccentric, and changed his name to Patrick Stewart. Bourbon attributed his lack of fingers to frostbite. In an interview with the Spanish historian José María Zavala, he claimed to have been born in Lausanne, Switzerland, and left there in the care of Roman Catholic nuns, who informed him that he was the premarital son of Alfonso, Count of Covadonga, and his first wife, Edelmira Sampedro y Robato. The Count of Covadonga was the eldest son of King Alfonso XIII of Spain and Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, and was heir apparent to the Spanish throne under the title of Prince of Asturias until he renounced his succession rights. Bourbon wrote a book about his alleged royal lineage. His physical resemblance to the King, polyglotism, manners, and ceremoniousness convinced many of his acquaintances that he was, in fact, of royal heritage.

Bourbon claimed to have learned Spanish, English, French, German, and Italian while at boarding school. He said he studied political science at the University of Paris and the Heidelberg University, and that he then worked as an interpreter for the United Nations in New York City. He explained that his father died in a car crash in Florida in 1938, and that he lived in Paris, Germany, and New York. In January 1969, the New York Times reported that Bourbon bid on La Peregrina pearl, which once belonged to the Spanish royal family:

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