Seven Benefactors Who Shaped Modern Greece

Seven of the most important benefactors in Greece contributed massively to the birth of modern Greece after the fighting heroes kicked out the Ottomans through their generosity and philanthropy.

These men were industrialists, shipping magnates, and rich aristocrats, who built the Greek economy and helped a poor nation to prosper. Their names are still very much alive in the foundations and institutions they left behind.

Benefactors of Modern Greece

Emmanouil Benakis (1843–1929)

Emmanouil Benakis studied in England before moving to Alexandria, Egypt, where he worked for a compatriot who was a cotton industrialist. An astute businessman, he created great wealth and fathered six children, among whom was Antonis Benakis, an art collector who established the Benaki Museum.

A close friend of Eleftherios Venizelos, he was elected to the Hellenic Parliament as minister of agriculture and industry, and later as mayor of the Greek capital in 1914.

His major contributions include the settlement of refugees after the population exchange with Turkey, the foundation of the Phytopathological Institute—a research institution focused on plant health and protection—as well as a library, educational institutions, and orphanages—all of which Greece was in dire need of at the time.

Georgios Averoff (1815-1899)

A businessman born in Metsovo, Epirus in 1815, he moved to Egypt in 1837, where he became an eminent businessman and adopted the habit of donating part of his wealth to charities. He funded the construction of schools and educational institutions in Egypt and Greece, such as the Evelpidon Military Academy.

Averoff was also a regular donor to the Athens Conservatory and contributed to the renovation of the Panathenaic Stadium, home of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.

Ioannis Gennadiοs (1844-1932)

Born in Athens, Gennadios was a diplomat and a noted philanthropist. The son of Georgios Gennadios, he spent a large part of his life in England and fervently worked for his homeland while serving in London and in Turkey.

A man of letters, he was an avid book collector and proud owner of a 26,000-volume private library, known as the Gennadios Library, which he later donated to the American School of Classical Studies at Athens in 1922. He died in London, leaving behind him the Gennadios School.

Eugenios Eugenidis (1882-1954)

Born in 1882 in Didymoteicho, Thrace, Eugenidis became a shipping tycoon, following his desire as a young man to build shipyards.

After he graduated from an eminent private school in Constantinople, he became an important figure in the shipping industry in Greece and abroad and was even appointed Consul-General of Greece in Finland, thanks to his ties with the Scandinavian shipping industry.

Forced to move to Egypt after World War II, he established a steamship line connecting North Africa and South America before relocating to Argentina. After the war, he settled in Switzerland.

Following the devastating earthquake of 1953 that caused great damage to the Ionian islands, he donated a great deal of his personal wealth toward their reconstruction. He died a year later, leaving instruction for the establishment of a foundation that would support technological and scientific education in Greece.

The Eugenidis Foundation, established two years later, is home to a world-class planetarium, an extensive library, and a technology laboratory.

Michael Tositsas (1787-1856)

Born in the picturesque village of Metsovo in 1787, Tositsas moved to Thessaloniki at the age of nineteen to take over his father’s fur store and later went on to open branches in Italy and Malta, where he became acquainted with the Prince Regent of Egypt, Mohammed Ali.

He was then appointed as General Consul in Alexandria, where he established the Greek community and contributed to developing religious and educational infrastructures in Egypt while he acquired many properties.

In the meantime, he considerably supported his homeland through donating large sums of money to the poor and the funding of churches, hospitals, and schools in Greece, including the University of Athens, the National Technical University of Athens, and the Arsakio School. Upon his death in 1856, his wife continued his philanthropic works.

Prodromos Bodossakis-Athanasiadis (1890-1979)

Credited as the father of Greek industry, Prodromos Bodossakis-Athanasiadis was born in 1890 in Cappadocia in Asia Minor.

From a young age he showed strong entrepreneurial skills and became a businessman at the tender age of seventeen. He moved to Greece after the Greco-Turkish War and started donating part of his wealth to the building of a school in Herakleion, Crete.

In the 1930s, he gained control over one of the oldest defense industries in Greece, Pyrkal, and built his industrial empire, which included mining companies, glass and textile manufacturing, engineering, and construction.

After World War II, he contributed to the rebuilding of the Greek economy, thanks to the creation of over fifteen thousand jobs. At the same time, he was involved in several philanthropic activities, including the construction of the Bodossakis Elementary School at Athens College in 1977 and the establishment of the geriatric clinic in the Athens Mental Health Care Hospital.

Awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the Phoenix, Greece’s highest non-military honor, he died in 1979, donating all his wealth to promote healthcare, education, research, and environmental protection through the Bodossakis Foundation.

Stavros Niarchos (1909 – 1996)

The multi-billionaire Greek shipping tycoon began building his shipping empire in 1952 by having the world’s biggest supertankers built for his fleet.

Propelled by both the Suez Crisis and increasing demand for oil, he and rival Aristotle Onassis became giants in global petroleum shipping.

The son of Spyros Niarchos and Eugenie Koumantaros, a rich heiress, Niarchos studied law at the University of Athens and was a naval officer in World War II. He then founded Niarchos Ltd., an international shipping company that made him an emperor of the super- tanker world.

Today, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center is a complex that houses Greece’s National Library and the National Opera and provides free cultural activities every day throughout the year. The foundation also continues to make generous donations to Greece’s health and educational systems.