Andreas Syggros ( el, Ανδρέας Συγγρός; 12 October 1830 – 13 February 1899) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

banker from

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, at the time known internationally as Constantinople, and a philanthropist. Born in Istanbul to Chiot parents who left the island due to the

Massacre of Chios The Chios massacre (in el, Η σφαγή της Χίου, ) was a catastrophe that resulted to the death, enslavement, and refuging of about four-fifths of the total population of Greeks on the island of Chios by Ottoman Empire, Ottoman troop ...

, Syggros was one of the founders of the Bank of Constantinople along with

Stephanos Skouloudis Stefanos Skouloudis ( el, Στέφανος Σκουλούδης; 23 November 1838 – 19 August 1928) was a Greek banker, diplomat and the 34th Prime Minister of Greece. Early life He was born in Istanbul (then Constantinople) on 23 November 18 ...

. Syggros married Iphigenia Mavrokordatou of the wealthy merchant

Mavrocordatos family The House of Mavrocordatos (also Mavrocordato, Mavrokordatos, Mavrocordat, Mavrogordato or Maurogordato; el, Μαυροκορδάτος) is the name of a family of Phanariot Greeks originally from Chios, a branch of which was distinguished in the ...

; they never had any children. They moved to

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

in 1871 where Syggros planned to found a new bank. Buying land from the widow of

Dimitrios Rallis Dimitrios Rallis (Greek: Δημήτριος Ράλλης; 1844–1921) was a Greek politician. He was born in Athens in 1844. He was descended from an old Greek political family. Before Greek independence, his grandfather, Alexander Rallis, ...

, Syggros engaged the well-known Athenian architect Nikolaos Soutsos who built his home based on plans by the German

Ernst Ziller Ernst Moritz Theodor Ziller ( el, Ερνέστος Τσίλλερ, ''Ernestos Tsiller''; 22 June 1837 – 4 November 1923) was a German-born university teacher and architect who later became a Greece, Greek national. In the late 19th and earl ...

, across from the Royal Palace. Today the mansion is the headquarters of the Greek Foreign Ministry, having been left to the state by his widow. He, together with other members of the Constantinople

Greek diaspora The Greek diaspora, also known as Omogenia ( el, Ομογένεια, Omogéneia), are the communities of Greeks living outside of Greece and Cyprus (excluding Northern Cyprus). Such places historically include Albania, North Macedonia, parts of ...

and the Odessa Greek diaspora, led by Evangelis Valtatzis, founded the General Credit Bank (Ethniki Pistotiki Trapeza). In 1882, he founded the Privileged Bank of Epirus and Thessaly (alternatively Epyrothessaly) in

Volos Volos ( el, Βόλος ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the sixth most populous city of Greece, and the capital of the Magnesia regional unit ...

to help the economy of the newly annexed Greek territories of Epiros and Thessaly. The annexation led to an influx of investment from expatriates who bought large estates previously belonging to Muslims who had made investments in the area. The "Privileged" in the bank's name refers to the bank receiving the right to issue banknotes in these territories. The

National Bank of Greece The National Bank of Greece (NBG; el, Εθνική Τράπεζα της Ελλάδος) is a global banking and financial services company with its headquarters in Athens, Greece. 85% of the company's pretax preprovision profits are derived ...

acquired the bank after Syggros's death. Syggros also became involved in numerous works of public philanthropy, including building an avenue from the Royal Palace to the bay at

Palaio Faliro Palaio Faliro ( el, Παλαιό Φάληρο, ; Katharevousa: Palaion Faliron, Παλαιόν Φάληρον, meaning "Old Phalerum") is a coastal district and a municipality in the southern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. At the 2011 c ...

(named after him today, Andrea Syggrou Avenue) and he was responsible for completing the

Corinth Canal The Corinth Canal ( el, Διώρυγα της Κορίνθου, translit=Dhioryga tis Korinthou) is an artificial canal in Greece, that connects the Gulf of Corinth in the Ionian Sea with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea. It cuts through the ...

, one of the great feats of engineering in Greece, in 1893. Syggros died in Athens in 1899, and is buried in the

First Cemetery of Athens The First Cemetery of Athens ( el, Πρώτο Νεκροταφείο Αθηνών, ''Próto Nekrotafeío Athinón'') is the official cemetery of the City of Athens and the first to be built. It opened in 1837 and soon became a prestigious ceme ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Syngrou, Andreas 1830 births 1899 deaths Constantinopolitan Greeks Businesspeople from Istanbul Greek accountants Greek bankers Greek philanthropists Burials at the First Cemetery of Athens 19th-century philanthropists