Hundreds of pagers exploded in Beirut, Lebanon on September 17, killing many, including Hezbollah leaders. Reports suggest that Israel is suspected of orchestrating the attack.
Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, a 49-year-old Italian-Hungarian CEO of Hungary-based BAC Consulting, denies any involvement in the recent pager explosions that claimed 12 lives and injured over 2,000 people in Lebanon. Despite her company licensing the design for the pagers from Taiwanese manufacturer Gold Apollo, Barsony-Arcidiacono insists she played no role in their production.
“I am just the intermediary. I think you got it wrong,” she told NBC News before disappearing from public view. Neighbors say they haven’t seen her, and she has not responded to repeated attempts by Reuters to contact her via phone, email, or in person. When reporters visited her apartment in downtown Budapest, it appeared to be shuttered, with no signs of activity. Earlier in the week, the door to her building had been open, but by Thursday, it was tightly sealed.
The Hungarian government has since clarified that BAC Consulting is a trading intermediary with no manufacturing operations in Hungary, and the controversial pagers never entered the country.
Barsony-Arcidiacono’s background paints a picture of a highly educated woman, fluent in seven languages, with a PhD in particle physics from University College London. Despite her academic credentials, she pursued a career in humanitarian work across Africa and Europe rather than remaining in the scientific field. Those who knew her describe her as intelligent but prone to jumping between short-term jobs without settling. One acquaintance called her “good-willed, not a business type,” noting her eagerness to try new things and her tendency to believe in people easily.
However, Kilian Kleinschmidt, a former UN humanitarian administrator who hired Barsony-Arcidiacono in 2019 for a six-month program in Tunisia, described her employment as a mistake. He cited disagreements over her management style and terminated her contract early, although Reuters could not independently confirm this.
At her Budapest apartment, nude pastel drawings she sketched herself adorn the vestibule walls, evidence of her artistic interests. Yet her neighbors describe her as more of a businesswoman than an artist, with one resident calling her kind and communicative.
Her educational background is impressive, with a resume listing degrees from prestigious institutions like the London School of Economics. However, some of her claims—such as being a board member at the Earth Child Institute and a project manager at the International Atomic Energy Agency—have been disputed. Donna Goodman, founder of the Earth Child Institute, confirmed that Barsony-Arcidiacono never held a formal position with the organization, while the IAEA identified her as an intern rather than a project manager.
BAC Consulting’s website, now offline, gave little information about the company’s actual operations. Its registered office is a shared service space in the suburbs of Budapest. Despite the unfolding scandal, Barsony-Arcidiacono has yet to reappear or make further statements.
In her CV, she describes herself as a “scientist with a diverse background working on interdisciplinary projects” and highlights her ability to lead in multicultural environments. However, with questions about her business dealings and her sudden disappearance, the mystery surrounding Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono deepens.