Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono: Mystery Hungarian CEO linked to Hezbollah pagers blasts in Lebanon
Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, a Hungarian woman shrouded in mystery, serves as the CEO of a company that licensed the design for pagers linked to a string of explosions in Lebanon last week, which left at least 37 people, including Hezbollah militants, dead and more than 3,000 injured. Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono holds a PhD in particle physics and is fluent in seven languages.
An undated selfie of Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, the Italian-Hungarian CEO and owner of Hungary-based BAC Consulting in an unknown location in this picture obtained from social media. (via REUTERS)
After it was revealed that her company had licensed the pager design from the original Taiwanese manufacturer, Gold Apollo, Barsony-Arcidiacono told NBC News, “I am just the intermediate. I think you got it wrong.”
Since the attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday that targeted pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon, Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono has not made any public appearances. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government have blamed Israel for the incidents, which Israel has neither confirmed nor denied.
Who is Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono?
Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono is listed as the CEO of BAC Consulting, a Budapest-based firm that the Taiwanese trademark holder of the pagers identified as responsible for manufacturing the devices.
She earned her PhD in physics from University College London in the early 2000s, with a dissertation focused on positrons – a subatomic particle similar to electrons but with a positive charge – available on the University College London (UCL) website. However, she seems to have moved away from a scientific career after her studies.
Her mother told the Associated Press (AP) that her daughter was “not involved in any way” in the deadly scheme to turn the pagers into explosives, asserting that “she was just a broker.” She added, “The items did not pass through Budapest. … They were not produced in Hungary,” reflecting a claim made earlier by the Hungarian government.
Since the incidents, Cristiana has not been seen in public, and neighbours report that they haven’t noticed her presence. Barsony-Arcidiacono has not responded to calls and emails from Reuters, and there was no answer when they visited her residence in downtown Budapest. Her flat, located in an elegant old building, was shuttered after previously having an open vestibule door earlier in the week.
Following the publication of this story, Reuters reached out to her again but received no response. The Hungarian government stated on Wednesday that BAC Consulting was a “trading-intermediary company” with no manufacturing facility in Hungary, asserting that the pagers had never been in the country.
Where is she now?
Beatrix Bársony-Arcidiacono said via phone to AP from Sicily that her daughter, Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono, “is currently in a safe place protected by the Hungarian secret services” following her Budapest-based company’s connection to the devices used in the simultaneous pager attack on Tuesday.
However, Hungary’s Special Service for National Security disputed this claim, stating that the younger Bársony-Arcidiacono does not qualify for such protection and noting that she has been interviewed “several times” since the investigation began on Wednesday.
“The results of the investigation so far have made it clear that the so-called pagers have never been on Hungarian territory, and that no Hungarian company or Hungarian expert was involved in their manufacture or modification!” the agency informed the AP.
(With inputs from Associated Press, Reuters)
