Andreas Syggros (; 12 October 1830 – 13 February 1899) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

banker from

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, at the time known internationally as Constantinople, and a philanthropist. Born in Istanbul to Chiot parents who left the island due to the Massacre of Chios, Syggros was one of the founders of the Bank of Constantinople along with Stephanos Skouloudis. Syggros married Iphigenia Mavrokordatou of the wealthy merchant

Mavrocordatos family The House of Mavrokordatos (), variously also Mavrocordato, Mavrocordatos, Mavrocordat, Mavrogordato or Maurogordato, is the name of a family of Phanariotes, Phanariot Greeks originally from Chios, in which a branch rose to a princely rank and was ...

; they never had any children. They moved to

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

in 1871 where Syggros planned to found a new bank. Buying land from the widow of Dimitrios Rallis, Syggros engaged the well-known Athenian architect Nikolaos Soutsos who built his home based on plans by the German Ernst Ziller, across from the Royal Palace. Today the mansion is the headquarters of the Greek Foreign Ministry, having been left to the state by his widow. He, together with other members of the Constantinople

Greek diaspora The Greek diaspora, also known as Omogenia (), are the communities of Greeks living outside of Greece and Cyprus. Such places historically (dating to the ancient period) include, Greeks in Albania, Albania, Greeks in North Macedonia, North Maced ...

and the Odessa Greek diaspora, led by Evangelis Valtatzis, founded the General Credit Bank (Ethniki Pistotiki Trapeza). In 1873, he profited from the stock market scandal that followed the Lavreotika dispute, having previously raised the price of the ''Greek Company of Lavrion Mines'' stocks by maintaining or spreading false rumors about the existence of gold reserves in the mines. In 1882, he founded the Privileged Bank of Epirothessaly in

Volos Volos (; ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the capital of the Magnesia (regional unit), Magnesia regional unit of the Thessaly Region. Volos ...

to help the economy of the newly annexed Greek territories of Epiros and Thessaly. The annexation led to an influx of investment from expatriates who bought large estates previously belonging to Muslims who had made investments in the area. The "Privileged" in the bank's name refers to the bank receiving the right to issue banknotes in these territories. The National Bank of Greece acquired the bank after Syggros's death. Syggros also became involved in numerous works of public philanthropy, including building an avenue from the Royal Palace to the bay at Palaio Faliro (named after him today, Andrea Syggrou Avenue) and he was responsible for completing the

Corinth Canal The Corinth Canal () is a canal in Greece that connects the Gulf of Corinth in the Ionian Sea with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea. Completed in 1893, it cuts through the narrow Isthmus of Corinth and "separates" the Peloponnese peninsula fro ...

, one of the great feats of engineering in Greece, in 1893. Syggros died in Athens in 1899, and is buried in the First Cemetery of Athens.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Syngrou, Andreas 1830 births 1899 deaths Constantinopolitan Greeks Bankers from the Ottoman Empire Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Greece Businesspeople from Istanbul Greek accountants Greek businesspeople Greek bankers Greek philanthropists Burials at the First Cemetery of Athens 19th-century Greek philanthropists