Leonidas Kestekides (1876 - 1948) was an Ottoman empire-born Belgian chocolate manufacturer, founder of the internationally famous

Leonidas Leonidas I (; grc-gre, Λεωνίδας; died 19 September 480 BC) was a List of kings of Sparta#Heraclids, king of the Greek city-state of Sparta, and the 17th of the List of kings of Sparta#Agiad dynasty, Agiad line, a dynasty which claimed d ...

company in Belgium. The company's primary focus is pralines (chocolate shells with soft fillings), but they also sell

marzipan Marzipan is a confectionery, confection consisting primarily of sugar, honey, and almond meal (ground almonds), sometimes augmented with almond oil or extract. It is often made into Confectionery, sweets; common uses are chocolate-covered marzi ...

, solid chocolates, and other confectionery.

Life

Leonidas Kestekides was born to

Cappadocian Greek Cappadocian Greek ( cpg, Καππαδοκικά, Καππαδοκική Διάλεκτος), also known as Cappadocian or Asia Minor Greek, is a dialect of modern Greek heavily influenced by Turkish, originally spoken in Cappadocia (modern-day ...

parents in Nigde,

Cappadocia Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Revo ...

(now in Turkey) in 1876. Accounts of his early years vary, but it appears that he left

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

(now

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, ...

), lived in Greece for a while and then went to Italy, where he became a wine merchant. He struggled financially, so he decided to move to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where he worked as a confectioner from 1893 to 1898, then moved to Paris until 1908. In 1910, he travelled to Belgium to attend the 1910 World Fair in Brussels, where he was awarded the bronze medal for his chocolate confectionery. He returned to Belgium in 1913, attended the World Fair in Ghent, and moved permanently to Belgium, having met a young woman from Brussels during his visit. He opened tea-rooms in Brussels, Ghent and

Blankenberge Blankenberge (; french: Blankenberghe; vls, Blanknberge) is a city and a municipality in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Blankenberge proper and the settlement of Uitkerke. On 1 December 2014, Bla ...

, and the business expanded from there.

References

External links

Leonidas company website

Leonidas history

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kestekides, Leonidas Chocolatiers People from Niğde Belgian people of Greek descent Greek people of Belgian descent 1876 births 1954 deaths Cappadocian Greeks Expatriates from the Ottoman Empire in the United States Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Belgium