Chropei, also spelled as Chropi (ΧΡΩΠΕΙ - Χρωματουργία Πειραιώς, Piraeus Dye Works), was a historic Greek chemical company. It was founded in 1883 by chemists Spilios and Leontios Economides (the former having been a co-worker of

Adolf von Baeyer Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer (; 31 October 1835 – 20 August 1917) was a German chemist who synthesised indigo and developed a nomenclature for cyclic compounds (that was subsequently extended and adopted as part of the IUPAC org ...

) and has traditionally been a major synthetic dye and pharmaceuticals manufacturer. Makrykano M1943 SMG

An important contributor to Greece's defence effort during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, it diversified, after 1950, into several other chemical products. In 1975 it made a rather bold move, proposing two types of guns (

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

and

submachine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an autom ...

) to the Military of Greece. The guns had been developed by a team under Sotiris Sofianopoulos (the origin of their basic structure is apparently connected with a Greek-Cypriot design), while existing company infrastructure had been improved to allow massive production. A relatively small number - a few more than 100 units - was produced while testing by the

Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στρατός, Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term ''Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the ...

was under way, initially indicating "positive" performance. According to the final test results, though, the guns did not meet the desired standards (the designs indeed seemed outdated, but the decision was also probably connected with the creation of the state-owned EBO company) and the produced stock ended up in Army storage facilities. Chropei was virtually bankrupt when it was nationalized in the 1980s with its name changed to ELVIPY (ΕΛΒΙΠΥ - Ελληνική Βιομηχανία Προϊόντων Υγείας, Greek Health Products Company). After a few more years in a financial mess, it closed down altogether in 1995. The company's ruined original buildings on

Pireos Street Peiraios Street ( el, Οδός Πειραιώς, ''Odos Peiraios'', "Piraeus Street") is a main road in Athens, Greece linking the center of the city with the port of Piraeus. It is part of the system of national roads, as number 56 ( el, Εθνι ...

are often cited as a testimony to Greece's neglect of a large part of its industrial history.

References

*"Argosvinei i Istoriki Chropei (Historic Chropei Plant is Crumbling Away)", article in the ''Kathimerini'' newspaper, April 15, 2007. *Theodoros Dimopoulos, "Opla Ellinikis Epinoisis kai Kataskevis (Greek-developed and produced Arms)", article in Greek ''Panzer'' magazine, issue 24, January-February 2006.
L.S. Skartsis, "Greek Vehicle & Machine Manufacturers 1800 to present: A Pictorial History", Marathon (2012)
{{ISBN, 978-960-93-4452-4 (eBook) Defence companies of Greece Defunct manufacturing companies of Greece Firearm manufacturers of Greece Greek companies established in the 19th century 1995 disestablishments in Greece