Panayis Athanase Vagliano ( el, Παναγής Βαλλιάνος, Panagis Vallianos; 1814–1902) 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 ...

merchant and shipowner, acclaimed as the 'father of modern Greek shipping'. He was born in Kerameies on the Greek island of Cefalonia, where he first became a sailor, before becoming part of the

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 ...

Russia

He joined his brothers Marinos and Andreas, initially settling in

Taganrog Taganrog ( rus, Таганрог, p=təɡɐnˈrok) is a port city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, on the north shore of the Taganrog Bay in the Sea of Azov, several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: History of Taganrog Th ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

around 1840. Together they formed ''Vaglianos Bros.'' as grain-merchants and shippers, making good profits from the high prices of grain during the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

. It is said that they sometimes bought the whole Russian wheat export crop, and were pioneers of exchange-traded wheat contracts. After the war ended, fellow Greeks had problems finding shippers for their cargoes from the Great Powers; Vaglianos Bros. stepped in and offered them financing and transport on their own ships.

London

Vagliano moved his business to London in 1858, as grain merchants, bankers, and shippers, but kept in contact with Russia through his brothers. There was already a well-established Greek merchant community in London, and they assisted his membership of the

Baltic Exchange The Baltic Exchange (incorporated as The Baltic Exchange Limited) is a membership organisation for the maritime industry, and freight market information provider for the trading and settlement of physical and derivative contracts. It was locate ...

from where his business thrived. His operation based in London avoided restrictive Greek commercial laws, enabling him to loan money to other Greeks for shipbuilding, and he was quoted as wishing for 'the seas covered with a thick forest of Greek masts'.

Legacies

Vagliano Bros. continued operating after his death, and survived the loss of its traditional markets in Russia and Turkey after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

by concentrating on shipping and finance; in this way they helped develop

Greek shipping Greece is a maritime nation by tradition, as shipping is arguably the oldest form of occupation of the Greeks and has been a key element of Greek economic activity since ancient times. Today, shipping is the country's most important industry wo ...

dynasties. However, he is probably best remembered in his native Greece for a donation that funded the

National Library of Greece The National Library of Greece ( el, Εθνική Βιβλιοθήκη της Ελλάδος, Ethnikí Vivliothíki tis Elládos) is the main public library of Greece, located in Athens. Founded by Ioannis Kapodistrias in 1832, its mission is to ...

building (the ) in

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 ...

. He was also a philanthropist in London, and donated money towards

Saint Sophia Cathedral Churches dedicated to Holy Wisdom (''Hagia Sophia'', also rendered ''Saint Sophia'') include: See also {{commons category, Holy Wisdom churches * Sophia of Rome#Churches, for churches named after Saint Sophia of Rome * Sofia Church (disambiguati ...

in London and the

Greek Orthodox The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also cal ...

cemetery within

West Norwood Cemetery West Norwood Cemetery is a rural cemetery in West Norwood in London, England. It was also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery. One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the " Magnificent Seven" cemeteries of ...

, where he is interred next to his brother Marinos in a grand neoclassical Greek mausoleum modelled on the

Tower of the Winds The Tower of the Winds or the Horologion of Andronikos Kyrrhestes is an octagonal Pentelic marble clocktower in the Roman Agora in Athens that functioned as a ''horologion'' or "timepiece". It is considered the world's first meteorological stat ...

, now listed Grade II. At his death he was enormously wealthy (his estate was valued at £3M) and he willed a considerable legacy to Kefalonia for charitable purposes.

References

Sources

Stuart Thompstone ''Vagliano, Panayis Athanase''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

Friends of West Norwood Cemetery
ref: Vagliano & Vallianos

Russia

London

Legacies

References

Sources

Further reading