On this day in 1899, Greek businessman Andreas Syngros died aged 68

·

One of the important personalities of Greece in the 19th century, Andreas Syngros was considered the most powerful man of his time, after King George I .

Andreas was born in the Stavrodromi (Pera) district of Istanbul on October 12, 1830. He studied at the famous school of Theophilos Kairis in Andros, later completing his studies in Ermoupolis of Syros in 1845.

Immediately after graduation he started working as an apprentice in the shop of the merchant Theodoros Rodokanakis in Ermoupolis. He quickly rose through the ranks and in 1849 became the manager of the newly formed company ‘Vouros, Damianos and Sia‘, which imported and exported products from the Ottoman Empire.

In 1863, he began to engage in banking and quickly formed a respectable fortune. His business almost went bankrupt in 1871 due to the economic crisis caused by the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 and the sharp fall of Turkish bonds.

With a series of risky stock market manoeuvres, Syngros saved a large part of his fortune and together with Georgios Koronios, Stefanos Skouloudis and Antonios Vlastos, founded the Istanbul Bank.

In 1872, he returned to Athens and, together with Ioannis Skaltsounis, founded the General Credit Bank. After the integration of Thessaly and part of Epirus, Syngros together with other capitalists founded the Bank of Epirus. This merged only two years later with the National Bank of Greece.

Syngros left a mark on his name for his extremely generous charitable work, with his donations totally an estimated 5,000,000 drachmas. For his philanthropic work he was honoured with the highest medals of the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Greece.

Andreas Syggros died in the early morning hours of February 13, 1899 from a heart attack. 

“Such a crowd never accompanied the dead in modern Greece, but never has modern Greece ever had such a large funeral to bury, because ‘such men’ as one author very aptly said are not just individuals, but ‘are humanity in the slightest’!” wrote a newspaper the day after his funeral.

Sourced By: San Simera

greek film festival melbourne

Advertisement

Share:

KEEP UP TO DATE WITH TGH

By subscribing you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Advertisement

Latest News

GOCNSW holds fruitful first meeting with new Consul General George Skemperis

The Greek Orthodox Community of NSW hosted the new Consul General of Greece in Sydney, Georgios Skemperis, in a productive meeting.

Silent heroes and bright futures: Supporting Greek language education in Victoria

Over the past month or so a few articles have appeared discussing the current and future state of the Greek language in Victoria.

Archbishop Makarios pays tribute to Elder Vasilios Gontikakis, influential Athonite theologian

Elder Vasilios Gontikakis, former Prior of the Iviron Monastery (1990–2005) and the Stavronikita Monastery (1968–1990) on Mount Athos, died.

Greek basketball stars bring Panathinaikos spirit to Melbourne’s Stalactites

Melbourne’s iconic Greek restaurant Stalactites hosted Panathinaikos stars Nikos Rogkavopoulos and Jerian Grant on Wednesday, September 17.

Australian Championship secures landmark multi-platform broadcast deal with SBS

Football Australia and SBS today announced a landmark multi-year, multi-platform agreement to broadcast the Australian Championship.

You May Also Like

Ouzo Festival in Melbourne: The next best thing to a shot in Mytilene

Hundreds gathered at the Ouzo Festival on Sunday in Melbourne, which was organised by the Palesviaki Enosi (Lesvos Culture Club).

Israel attacks Greek Orthodox church in Gaza a second time

Israeli missiles have hit the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church in Gaza City, where dozens of displaced Palestinians have taken refuge.

Trump pauses most global tariffs but hikes China rate amid market volatility

US President Donald Trump has announced a 90-day pause on his new "reciprocal" tariffs, just hours after they were imposed on imports.