Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy (January 7, 1966 - July 16, 1999) was born Carolyn Jeanne Bessette, the daughter of William J. Bessette and his then-wife, née Ann Messina. She and her sister Lauren Bessette died when an aircraft piloted by Carolyn's husband John F. Kennedy, Jr. crashed in the sea near Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Their ashes were buried at sea on July 22, 1999.

She was born in White Plains, Westchester Co., New York, Bessette grew up in Connecticut and graduated from Boston University in 1988. An occasional model, she eventually became a publicist for fashion designer Calvin Klein in New York City, where she met Kennedy. She married John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jr. on September 21, 1996 on Cumberland Island, Georgia.

As soon as she and her then future husband John Jr. began dating, she became the subject of several gossip newspapers; she would be in tabloid headlines for the rest of her life. A former Baywatch star and Calvin Klein underwear model named Michael Bergin claims that Carolyn Bessette had an affair with him.

She became a style icon for women all around the world with her effortless chic look, second only to her mother-in-law Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Carolyn Kennedy should not be confused with her sister-in-law, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg.