Everything about Panayis Athanase Vagliano totally explained
Panayis Athanase Vagliano a.k.a. Panaghis Athanassiou Vallianos, (
1814 –
1902) was a merchant and shipowner, acclaimed as the 'father of modern Greek shipping'.
He was born in
Kerameies on the Greek island of
Kefalonia, where he first became a sailor, before becoming part of the
Greek diaspora.
Russia
He joined his brothers Marinos and Andreas, initially settling in
Taganrog,
Russian Empire around 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. 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 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 by concentrating on shipping and finance; in this way they helped develop
Greek shipping dynasties.
However, he's probably best remembered in his native Greece for a donation that funded the
National Library of Greece in
Athens. He was also a philanthropist in London, and donated money towards
Saint Sophia Cathedral in London and the
Greek Orthodox cemetery within
West Norwood Cemetery, where he's interred next to his brother Marinos in a grand
neoclassical Greek mausoleum modelled on the
Tower of the Winds, 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.
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