Eight Benefactors Who Shaped Modern Greece

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Through their generosity and philanthropy, 7 important benefactors successful Greece contributed massively to the commencement of the modern federation aft the Ottomans were expelled.

These men were industrialists, shipping magnates, and affluent aristocrats, who built the Greek system and helped a mediocre federation prosper. Their names are inactive precise overmuch live successful the foundations and institutions they near behind.

Benefactors of modern Greece

Emmanouil Benakis (1843–1929)

Emmanouil Benakis studied successful England earlier moving to Alexandria, Egypt, wherever helium worked for a compatriot who was a fabric industrialist. An astute businessman, helium accumulated large wealthiness and fathered six children, among whom was Antonis Benakis, an creation collector who established the Benaki Museum.

A adjacent person of Eleftherios Venizelos, helium was elected to the Hellenic Parliament arsenic curate of agriculture and manufacture and aboriginal arsenic politician of the Greek superior successful 1914.

His large contributions see the colony of refugees aft the colonisation speech with Turkey, the instauration of the Phytopathological Institute—a probe instauration focused connected works wellness and protection—as good arsenic a library, acquisition institutions, and orphanages—all of which Greece was successful dire request of astatine the time.

Georgios Averoff (1815-1899)

A businessman calved successful Metsovo, Epirus successful 1815, helium moved to Egypt successful 1837, wherever helium became an eminent businessman and donated portion of his wealthiness to charities. He funded the operation of schools and acquisition institutions, specified arsenic the Evelpidon Military Academy, successful Egypt and Greece.

Averoff was besides a regular donor to the Athens Conservatory and contributed to the renovation of the Panathenaic Stadium, location of the archetypal modern Olympic Games successful 1896.

Ioannis Gennadiοs (1844-1932)

Born successful Athens, Gennadios was a diplomat and noted philanthropist. The lad of Georgios Gennadios, helium spent a ample portion of his beingness successful England and fervently worked for his homeland portion serving successful London and Turkey.

A antheral of letters, helium was an avid publication collector and arrogant proprietor of a 26,000-volume backstage library, known arsenic the Gennadios Library, which helium aboriginal donated to the American School of Classical Studies astatine Athens successful 1922. He died successful London, leaving down the Gennadios School arsenic his legacy.

Eugenios Eugenidis (1882-1954)

Eugenios Eugenidis, Benefactor of Greece

Born successful 1882 successful Didymoteicho, Thrace, Eugenidis became a shipping tycoon, pursuing his tendency arsenic a young antheral to physique shipyards.

After helium graduated from an eminent backstage schoolhouse successful Constantinople, helium became an important fig successful the shipping manufacture successful Greece and overseas and was adjacent appointed Consul-General of Greece successful Finland, acknowledgment to his ties with the Scandinavian shipping industry.

Forced to determination to Egypt aft World War II, helium established a steamship enactment connecting North Africa and South America earlier relocating to Argentina. After the war, helium settled successful Switzerland.

Following the devastating earthquake of 1953 that caused large harm to the Ionian islands, helium donated a large woody of his idiosyncratic wealthiness for their reconstruction. He died a twelvemonth later, leaving instructions for the constitution of a instauration that would enactment technological and technological acquisition successful Greece.

The Eugenidis Foundation, established 2 years later, is location to a world-class planetarium, extended library, and exertion laboratory.

Michael Tositsas (1787-1856)

Born successful the picturesque colony of Metsovo successful 1787, Tositsas relocated to Thessaloniki astatine the property of nineteen to instrumentality implicit his father’s fur store and aboriginal went connected to unfastened branches successful Italy and Malta. There, helium became acquainted with the Prince Regent of Egypt, Mohammed Ali.

He was past appointed arsenic General Consul successful Alexandria, wherever helium established the Greek assemblage and contributed to processing spiritual and acquisition infrastructures successful Egypt portion helium acquired galore properties.

Meanwhile, helium supported his homeland considerably done donations of ample sums of wealth to the mediocre and the backing of churches, hospitals, and schools successful Greece, including the University of Athens, the National Technical University of Athens, and the Arsakio School. Following his decease successful 1856, his woman continued connected with his philanthropic works.

Prodromos Bodossakis-Athanasiadis (1890-1979)

Credited arsenic the begetter of Greek industry, Prodromos Bodossakis-Athanasiadis was calved successful 1890 successful Cappadocia successful Asia Minor.

From a young age, helium showed beardown entrepreneurial skills and became a businessman astatine the tender property of seventeen. He moved to Greece aft the Greco-Turkish War and started donating portion of his wealthiness to the gathering of a schoolhouse successful Herakleion, Crete.

In the 1930s, helium gained power implicit 1 of the oldest defence industries successful Greece, Pyrkal, and built his concern empire, which included mining companies, solid and textile manufacturing, engineering, and construction.

After World War II, helium contributed to the rebuilding of the Greek economy, acknowledgment to the instauration of implicit 15 1000 jobs. At the aforesaid time, helium was progressive successful respective philanthropic activities, including the operation of the Bodossakis Elementary School astatine Athens College successful 1977 and the constitution of the geriatric session successful the Athens Mental Health Care Hospital.

Awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the Phoenix, Greece’s highest non-military honor, helium died successful 1979, donating each his wealthiness to beforehand healthcare, education, research, and biology extortion done the Bodossakis Foundation.

Aristotle Onassis (1906-1995)

Onassis amassed the world’s largest privately owned shipping fleet and was 1 of the world’s richest and astir celebrated men. In his will, helium directed a ample information of his luck toward establishing the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation (founded successful 1975, aft his death, successful representation of his lad Alexander, who died successful a level crash).

The instauration has funded scholarships, taste programs, aesculapian initiatives, and acquisition projects successful Greece and abroad. One of its astir important contributions is the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center successful Athens, a world-class infirmary that has treated hundreds of thousands of patients since 1993.

The Onassis Foundation has supported the preservation and promotion of Hellenic culture, some successful Greece and internationally, including creation exhibitions, restoration projects, and taste exchanges. It besides provides scholarships for Greek students to survey abroad, helping nurture caller generations of professionals.

Stavros Niarchos (1909 – 1996)

The multi-billionaire Greek shipping tycoon began gathering his shipping empire successful 1952 by having the world’s largest supertankers built for his fleet.

Propelled by some the Suez Crisis and expanding request for oil, helium and rival Aristotle Onassis became giants successful planetary petroleum shipping.

The lad of Spyros Niarchos and Eugenie Koumantaros, a affluent heiress, Niarchos studied instrumentality astatine the University of Athens and was a naval serviceman successful World War II. He past founded Niarchos Ltd., an planetary shipping institution that made him an emperor of the super- tanker world.

Today, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center is simply a analyzable that houses Greece’s National Library and the National Opera and provides escaped taste activities each time passim the year. The instauration besides continues to marque generous donations to Greece’s wellness and acquisition systems.

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