Thanasis Laskaridis (

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 ...

: Θανάσης Λασκαρίδης; born 8 November 1952) is a

shipowner and businessman based in the United Kingdom. He was president and CEO of Lavinia Corporation from 1977 until 2021. He is also founder of the Athanasios C. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation, The People's Trust in Greece, and co-founder (together with his brother Panos) of the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation. He has six children.''

Biography

Early life and education

He was born in Athens, Greece, to Konstantinos (Constantine) and Aikaterini (Kaiti) Laskaridis and has one older brother, Panos Laskaridis. He graduated from the

German School of Athens The German School of Athens (, DSA; el, Γερμανική Σχολή Αθηνών, ΓΣΑ), also known as the Dörpfeld Gymnasium, is a coeducational independent, kindergarten, elementary school and high school in Marousi, Athens, Greece. The s ...

in 1970 and went on to receive a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in Electrical Engineering at

Aston University Aston University (abbreviated as ''Aston''. for post-nominals) is a public research university situated in the city centre of Birmingham, England. Aston began as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School in 1895, evolving into the UK's first c ...

of Birmingham in 1973, a Master's degree in Systems Engineering at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

in 1974 and a second Master's degree in Economics and Finance at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

in 1975.

Business interests

During the mid-1970s he started his career in shipping by taking control of the small family fishing company along with his brother. The two brothers became the majority shareholders of Lavinia Corporation, a shipping group holding company that controls Laskaridis Shipping, an Athens-based management company founded in 1977 which operates reefer ships, petrol tankers, dry bulk carriers, ship repair facilities, and marine terminals. In January 2021, Thanasis Laskaridis sold his majority stake in Lavinia Corporation, reorganizing the family's asset holdings. He kept control of the ship repair facilities and marine terminals, and created a new shipping-related group under Alimia/Laskaridis Maritime. His business activities also span across the hospitality, real estate, and airline industries (as a minority shareholder in Aegean Airlines). After the intra-family reorganization in 2021, Thanasis has the substantial majority ownership and control of Lampsa Hellenic Hotels SA, owner of the landmark Athens hotels

Grande Bretagne The Hotel Grande Bretagne ( el, Ξενοδοχείο Μεγάλη Βρεταννία) is a luxury hotel in Athens, Greece. It is located on Syntagma Square, on the corner of Vasileos Georgiou A' and Panepistimiou Streets. It is owned presently ...

, King George and Athens Capital, as well as the

Hyatt Regency Belgrade Hyatt Regency Belgrade is a modern 5-star hotel located in New Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia. It is part of international hotel group Hyatt Regency. Located across the street from Ušće Tower and Ušće Shopping Center, it is close to both the ci ...

. He also owns

Lucknam Park Lucknam Park is a luxury hotel, spa and restaurant in west Wiltshire, England, about north-west of Corsham and north-east of Bath. The core of its building is a Grade II listed country house built in the late 17th or early 18th century. The hot ...

, a countryside hotel in the UK.

Charity and donations

In 1993, the Laskaridis brothers founded the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation in memory of their mother. The foundation's aim is to actively support cultural and educational projects in Greece. Laskaridis and his brother have donated to causes such as the

Hellenic Coast Guard The Hellenic Coast Guard ( el, Λιμενικό Σώμα-Ελληνική Ακτοφυλακή, Limeniko Soma-Elliniki Aktofylaki, Port Corps-Hellenic Coast Guard) is the national coast guard of Greece. Like many other coast guards, it is a par ...

, the Greek navy, the Union of Greek Shipowners' charitable trust, fresh water supply projects for refugees in northern Greece and a number of Greek charitable organisations engaged with the wellbeing of children in need. Laskaridis has also donated to the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

in support of the Hellenic Observatory, where he sits on the Advisory Board. In 2014, he financed with €1.5 million the restoration of

Syntagma Square Syntagma Square ( el, Πλατεία Συντάγματος, , "Constitution Square") is the central square of Athens. The square is named after the Constitution that Otto, the first King of Greece, was obliged to grant after a popular and militar ...

, the central square of Athens that had been damaged during riots and vandalism in previous years. The mayor of Athens,

Giorgos Kaminis Georgios Kaminis ( el, Γεώργιος Καμίνης; born 15 July 1954) is a Greek American parliamentarian and professor of constitutional law. He was the Greek Ombudsman from April 2003 until September 2010 and Mayor of Athens from 2011 un ...

, unveiled a plaque in his honour in September 2018, for Laskaridis' contribution to the square. Thanasis Laskaridis is also the founder of The People's Trust in Greece, a charitable trust dedicated to small grants for

startup companies A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend t ...

and general charity. For his donations to the Greek Navy and coast guard, Laskaridis has been awarded by the Ministry of Shipping and Island Policy and the

. He is also an honorary member of the latter organisation. In 2016, Thanasis Laskaridis founded the A.C. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation (ACLCF), a non-profit organisation which aims to build partnerships and implement programmes that focus on the environment and education in Greece. As part of these efforts, in 2019 th
MV ''Typhoon''
a former

platform supply vessel A platform supply vessel (PSV) is a ship specially designed to supply offshore oil and gas platforms. These ships range from in length and accomplish a variety of tasks. The primary function for most of these vessels is logistic support and tr ...

that was converted into a special purpose ship, began operations in the Greek seas with the aim of contributing to the large scale clean-up of the coastline, as well as to research of coastal and in-water marine pollution, in cooperation with universities and research institutions. In 2020, the ACLCF initiated a joint effort with the Greek government to plan the campaign "Greece Without Disposable Plastics", which aims to significantly reduce the volume of disposable plastics used in the country.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laskaridis, Thanasis Living people Businesspeople from Athens Greek businesspeople in shipping Greek philanthropists 1952 births