VIOLIN HAS OWNER - NO STRINGS ATTACHED

Published: Tuesday, Dec. 12 1995 12:00 a.m. MST

Summary

In 1967, a college musician borrowed an $800,000 Stradivarius violin and lost it from his car while riding between a liquor store and a restaurant.
It was found last year, but it wasn't until Monday that the question of who owned the 263-year-old instrument - named the Duke of Alcantara after an obscure Spanish nobleman - was settled.

In 1967, a college musician borrowed an $800,000 Stradivarius violin and lost it from his car while riding between a liquor store and a restaurant.

It was found last year, but it wasn't until Monday that the question of who owned the 263-year-old instrument - named the Duke of Alcantara after an obscure Spanish nobleman - was settled.The University of California, Los Angeles, agreed to pay Teresa Salvato $11,500 for the famed violin, one of 1,200 handcrafted by Antonio Stradivar.

Salvato said a relative who had found the violin near a freeway off-ramp 28 years ago passed it on to her.

Owners of a northern California repair shop recognized it when it was brought in last year. A music registry of missing violins traced it to UCLA.

When Salvato refused to return it, UCLA sued.

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