It's a real fairy tale. An Italian woman won a Pablo Picasso painting worth one million euros on Wednesday, thanks to a charitable lottery organized by the NGO Care. This 56-year-old accountant, confined to Ventimiglia, won the jackpot thanks to her son, who had offered her a 100-euro raffle ticket for Christmas. "Her mom is 56 years old and she is now a millionaire, with a Picasso painting which belongs to her. It's really great, they were so happy when we got them", rejoiced on Europe 1 the host Péri Cochin, at the origin of this initiative.
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"She was in shock"
The lottery was organized by the NGO Care to finance water access projects in Africa. You had to bet 100 euros to win this million dollar Picasso, a cubist still life from 1921 which represents a piece of newspaper and a glass of absinthe.
"At first they didn't believe me. When I asked them what they were going to do with this painting, they told me that they didn't know, that they would have to think about it. She was in shock Her son told me it would change her life, "said Peri Cochin.
Five million euros raised for Africa
Last year's winner, a young American, decided to keep his Picasso for his retirement. The lottery raised 5 million euros to bring clean water to 200,000 people in Madagascar, Cameroon and Morocco. 200,000 100 euro tickets had been on sale for months on the site "1picasso100euros.com", with the hope of raising 20 million euros.
Over 51,000 people paid 100 euros to participate. The French were the most united with 29% participation, followed by the Americans (21%) and the Swiss (19%). This operation will be repeated each year for a different humanitarian project.