If you are familiar with the Dominican Republic you are probably familiar with the words sanky panky. It is Dominican for gigolo, or most accurately, a man who preys on female tourists, seduces them, gets them to fall head over heels for him and soon she becomes his ticket out of the Dominican Republic, or at least out of poverty. While this is not a strictly-Dominican phenomenon here it acquires its own identity.
If you are not familiar with the Dominican Republic, then perhaps you have heard of Casanova, or Don Juan. A sanky is someone somewhere between these character and a male prostitute, only that his victims swear by his love. A sanky is young, athletic, suave, smooth-talking, good dancer and lover.
Porfirio Rubirosa was all that, and much more.
Born to a middle class Dominican family and educated in Europe, Rubi soon learned that he could go around life living amongst jet-setters, princes, heiresses and movie stars based only on his charm and looks.
This is not Rubi's biography, so let's get down to the meat of it: What made women like Zsa Zsa Gabor fall for him? What makes women like Barbara Hutton and Doris Duke (the richest women of the time) throw caution to the air and marry this bon vivant?
Perhaps it was his rugged dark looks. Perhaps his adventurous, dangerous character. Perhaps it was the mix of intelligence (he spoke five languages), perfect manners, and his dark side; developed in the streets and bordellos of early 20th century-Paris. Or perhaps, as we were informed by Truman Capote, it was his extraordinary endowment and amatorial endurance and skills.
I guess we'll never know; but there was a je ne sais quoi in Rubi that made women want to find out what it was, and men to possess it.
If you wish to learn more about Porfirio Rubirosa I recommend:
If you are not familiar with the Dominican Republic, then perhaps you have heard of Casanova, or Don Juan. A sanky is someone somewhere between these character and a male prostitute, only that his victims swear by his love. A sanky is young, athletic, suave, smooth-talking, good dancer and lover.
Porfirio Rubirosa was all that, and much more.
Born to a middle class Dominican family and educated in Europe, Rubi soon learned that he could go around life living amongst jet-setters, princes, heiresses and movie stars based only on his charm and looks.
This is not Rubi's biography, so let's get down to the meat of it: What made women like Zsa Zsa Gabor fall for him? What makes women like Barbara Hutton and Doris Duke (the richest women of the time) throw caution to the air and marry this bon vivant?
Perhaps it was his rugged dark looks. Perhaps his adventurous, dangerous character. Perhaps it was the mix of intelligence (he spoke five languages), perfect manners, and his dark side; developed in the streets and bordellos of early 20th century-Paris. Or perhaps, as we were informed by Truman Capote, it was his extraordinary endowment and amatorial endurance and skills.
I guess we'll never know; but there was a je ne sais quoi in Rubi that made women want to find out what it was, and men to possess it.
If you wish to learn more about Porfirio Rubirosa I recommend:
