Kostia Vlastos (17 October 1883 – 28 October 1967) was a Greek of the diaspora, scion of a family of bankers. Kostia Vlasto by SEM

Biography

Constantine Vlastos was born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, as Constantine George Anthony Dimitrios Vlastos, but was widely known as Kostia Vlastos.Paris Birth Registers
Register number V4E 6064, f. 112v, entry 1408
/ref> His father Antonios Vlastos was born on 18 October 1858 in

Galați Galați (, , ; also known by other alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the Danube River. It has been the only port for the most pa ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, whose family name origins could be traced to the island of

Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mast ...

. He was active in banking and was president of the Bank of Constantinople (Banque de Constantinople) of

Andreas Syngros Andreas Syggros ( el, Ανδρέας Συγγρός; 12 October 1830 – 13 February 1899) was a Greek banker from Istanbul, at the time known internationally as Constantinople, and a philanthropist. Born in Istanbul to Chiot parents who left ...

, Georgios Koronios and

Stephanos Skouloudis Stefanos Skouloudis ( el, Στέφανος Σκουλούδης; 23 November 1838 – 19 August 1928) was a Greek banker, diplomat and the 34th Prime Minister of Greece. Early life He was born in Istanbul (then Constantinople) on 23 November ...

. He later moved to Paris, where he managed the French broker house

Comptoir d'Escompte The ''Comptoirs d'Escompte'' or ''Comptoirs Nationaux d'Escompte'', literally " ationaldiscount counters", were 65 local banks created in a hurry in March 1848 by the government of the Second French Republic to maintain financial stability in the tu ...

. Antonios Vlastos was a great donor and one of the founding members of the Greek Philological Society of Constantinople, in 1861. His mother, Tarsi Vlastos (1860–1919), née Zarifi, was the daughter of the known Istanbul banker George Zarifis, from which Antonios Vlastos learned the banking business. The

Aéro-Club de France The Aéro-Club de France () was founded as the Aéro-Club on 20 October 1898 as a society 'to encourage aerial locomotion' by Ernest Archdeacon, Léon Serpollet, Henri de la Valette, Jules Verne and his wife, André Michelin, Albert de Dion, ...

awarded Kostia Vlastos a spherical balloon (sphériques) pilot license (number 287) on 20 November 1913. When the 1912-13

First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...

was declared, the 29-year-old Constantine came to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

and he volunteered in the

Greek 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 ...

, thus providing his services for the liberation of the land of his ancestors. He initially took the rank of

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...

and later that of

sergeant Sergeant ( abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other ...

. He joined the Army Company of Automobiles, apparently because of his ability to drive a car. During his service he was accompanied by his brother Stephen A. Vlastos (1885–1960), who was a war correspondent for the French newspaper ''

Le Temps ''Le Temps'' ( literally "The Time") is a Swiss French-language daily newspaper published in Berliner format in Geneva by Le Temps SA. It is the sole nationwide French-language non-specialised daily newspaper of Switzerland. Since 2021, it has ...

'' using the pseudonym Etienne Labranche.Nikos D. Karabelas
"Etienne Labranche & Kostia Vlastos. Two war correspondents of ''Le Temps'' in Preveza during 1912-13"
''Πρεβεζάνικα Χρονικά'', vol. 49-50, pp. 237-244, Preveza, 2013

Personal life

Kostia Vlastos married Ludmila de Nittey, a Baltic Russian, born c. 1899 and died on 10 September 1989. The couple traveled three times to America in the 1930s and amongst their destinations was

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the isla ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, in 1932, according to the archives of

Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mil ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Death

Kostia Vlastos died in

Bourron-Marlotte Bourron-Marlotte () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. In the second half of the 19th century, it was visited by several impressionist painters including Alfred Sisley, Pierre-Augu ...

(

Seine-et-Marne Seine-et-Marne () is a department in the Île-de-France region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square kilometres (2,284 square miles); it roughly covers its ...

) on 28 October 1967 and was buried at the Russian Orthodox cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois outside Paris. His wife, Ludmila, was buried in the same tomb.

References

Bibliography

* Philip P. Argenti, ''Libro d’ oro de la noblesse de Chio'', vol. I - II, London, 1955. * James S. Curlin
Ιπτάμενοι στη Νικόπολη: Η δράση του Λόχου Αεροπορίας στην Ήπειρο κατά τον Α΄ Βαλκανικό πόλεμο (1912-1913)
''Πρεβεζάνικα Χρονικά'', vol. 49-50, pp. 283–320, Preveza, 2013. * Christopher Long

from his personal and professional pages. * Nikos D. Karabelas
Etienne Labranche & Kostia Vlastos. Two war correspondents of ''Le Temps'' in Preveza during 1912-13
''Πρεβεζάνικα Χρονικά'', vol. 49-50, pp. 235–282, Preveza, 2013. * George L. Zariphis, Οι αναμνήσεις μου. Ένας κόσμος που έφυγε. Κωνσταντινούπολη 1800-1920, Athens, 2002. {{DEFAULTSORT:Vlastos Kostia 1883 births 1967 deaths Greek military personnel of the Balkan Wars French balloonists French people of Greek descent Businesspeople from Paris War correspondents of the Balkan Wars Military personnel from Paris