Yiorgos Vardinogiannis ( el, Γιώργος Βαρδινογιάννης) is a Greek businessman and a

shipping magnate A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through pers ...

, former owner and president of the Panathinaikos football club. He was born in Episkopi,

Rethymno Rethymno ( el, Ρέθυμνο, , also ''Rethimno'', ''Rethymnon'', ''Réthymnon'', and ''Rhíthymnos'') is a city in Greece on the island of Crete. It is the capital of Rethymno regional unit, and has a population of more than 30,000 inhabitants ...

in 1936. He is the brother of oil and shipping

tycoon A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

Vardis Vardinogiannis Vardis Vardinogiannis ( el, Βαρδής Βαρδινογιάννης) is a Greek billionaire oil and shipping businessman. He is the chairman and controlling shareholder of Motor Oil Hellas, Vegas Oil and Gas and involved in numerous other sh ...

Career

Seafaring career

He completed his maritime studies at Southampton before embarking on a seafaring career. He managed to be promoted to the rank of captain and then along with his brothers found the family ship and oil business.

Rhodesian sanction busting

Yiorgos Vardinoyannis was captain of the

oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined cru ...

MV ''Arietta Venezelos'' which in February 1966 was located in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...

. The Greek government, reacting to concerns that oil it was taking on board was destined for Rhodesia gave instructions to the owners, Venezelos SA to divert the ship to

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

rather than South Africa and forbade the delivery of oil to Rhodesia. However, Vardinogiannis continued to sail for Beira in Mozambique, then a colony of Portugal. Here the pipeline would allow oil to be pumped to landlocked Rhodesia.Hot cargoes, Time magazine
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Football

He was president of Greek football club

Panathinaikos FC Panathinaikos Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Παναθηναϊκός Α.Ο. ), known as Panathinaikos, or by its full name, and the name of its parent sports club, Panathinaikos A.O. or PAO (; ''Panathinaïkós Athlitikós Ómilos'', "All-Athenian ...

for 21 years (1979–2000) and had the nickname ''Kapetanios'' (Captain).

References

Greek businesspeople Living people 1936 births Panathinaikos A.O. Panathinaikos F.C. Panathinaikos F.C. presidents Greek football chairmen and investors Greek businesspeople in shipping Greek billionaires People in the petroleum industry People from Lappa, Rethymno {{Greece-business-bio-stub