Anastasios George Leventis
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Anastasios George Leventis (; December 1902 – October 25, 1978) was a Greek Cypriot businessman who founded a major merchandise trading firm, A.G. Leventis (Nigeria) Plc, in West Africa. A dominant figure in the economy of many West African countries and especially
Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
, he was awarded the title of Babalaje of Egbaland by Alake
Ladapo Ademola Oba Sir Ladapo Samuel Ademola KBE, CMG (1872–1962), also known as Ademola II, was the Alake of Abeokuta from 1920 to 1962. Before he was crowned Alake, Ademola was involved in the affairs of the Egba United Government. As a member of ...
. His daughter Fotini first married the politician Polycarpos Giorkatzis and after his assassination she married another politician
Tassos Papadopoulos Efstathios "Tassos" Nikolaou Papadopoulos (; 7 January 1934 – 12 December 2008) was a Cypriot politician and barrister, who served as President of Cyprus from 2003 to 2008. An experienced member of the Makarios III’s cabinet, Papadopo ...
, who eventually became President of Cyprus.


Early life

Leventis was born in the village of Lemythou,
Limassol District The Limassol District, or simply Limassol or Lemesos, is one of the six districts of Cyprus. , it had a population of 262,238, 75,7% of which was urban The district's capital city is Limassol. Part of the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri an ...
, in the Troodos Mountains. His father was a minister of the Greek Orthodox Church and was also a schoolmaster. Leventis attended Mitsis Commercial School. At the age of 16, he traveled to France to look for employment and educational opportunities. In 1920, he took up a job opportunity in Nigeria working at a trading post in Nwaniba,
Akwa Ibom State Akwa Ibom is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South, South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. It borders Cross River State to the east, Rivers State and Abia State to the west and north-west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. The state ...
.


Career

In 1922, Leventis joined the firm of A.J. Tangalakis in
Abeokuta Abeokuta is the capital city of Ogun State located at the south western part of Nigeria. It is situated on the east bank of the Ogun River, near a group of rocky outcrops in a wooded savanna; north of Lagos by railway, or by water. , Abeokut ...
,
Ogun State Ogun State is a state in southwestern Nigeria. It is bordered to the south by Lagos State and the Bight of Benin, to the east by Ondo State, and to the north by Oyo and Osun states while its western border forms part of the national borde ...
. He developed most of his connections with Nigeria while working in the city. When his firm merged with G. B. Ollivant, Leventis stayed with the amalgamated entity and rose to become the general manager of G. B. Ollivant in
Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
. In 1937, he left the firm after it was acquired by
United Africa Company The United Africa Company (UAC) was a British company which principally traded in West Africa during the 20th century. The United Africa Company was formed in 1929 as a result of the merger of Royal Niger Company, The Niger Company, which had b ...
. Leventis then formed his own company and started out as a produce buyer, partly financed by some British cotton manufacturers. He was assisted in the new venture by his brother C. P. Leventis, who organized the Nigerian branch in 1942, and a friend, G. E. Keralakis. In Ghana, Leventis was sympathetic to the cause of African nationalists. He was a friend of
Kwame Nkrumah Francis Kwame Nkrumah (, 21 September 1909 – 27 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He served as Prime Minister of the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast from 1952 until 1957, when it gained ...
and J. B. Danquah. When a riot flared up in the country, many foreign stores were burnt and closed but only Leventis-owned stores remained untouched and were opened throughout the period of conflict. After being elected president of Ghana, Nkrumah sought to make him Ghanaian ambassador to France. Leventis established a branch of his company in
Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
, called A.G. Leventis Nigeria Plc. Within a few years, the Nigerian company expanded its business line from cotton exports to merchandise trading and secured new sources of supplies. In the late 1940s, motivated by diversification and modernization, the firm changed its strategy. In 1960, the Leventis Group speedily completed the Federal Palace Hotel at the request of the Nigerian government, the hotel serving as accommodation for guests expected during Nigeria's independence celebrations. By the 1960s, his firm had grown to become one of the largest distributors in Nigeria and one of the largest merchandise traders in the West African region. In Nigeria, he restructured the business from general trading into a specialized trading firm and established various department stores. During this period, he thrived as a result of the nation's relatively open economy, as it was not until the 1970s that
economic nationalism Economic nationalism or nationalist economics is an ideology that prioritizes state intervention in the economy, including policies like domestic control and the use of tariffs and restrictions on labor, goods, and capital movement. The core bel ...
became a dominant initiative. His marketing style made the Leventis name familiar to many customers in Nigeria. Apart from his sympathy for the nationalist movement in Africa, he also gave his support to his native country's independence movement. He developed a friendship with Archbishop
Makarios III Makarios III (born Michael Christodoulou Mouskos; 13 August 1913 – 3 August 1977) was a Greek Cypriots, Greek Cypriot prelate and politician who served as Archbishop of the Church of Cyprus from 1950 to 1977 and as the first president o ...
, who appointed him Cyprus' ambassador to UNESCO and awarded him the medal of St. Barnabas. The Egba Scholarship Scheme, popularly known as "A.G. Leventis (Egba) Scholarship Scheme", which awards study funds to both undergraduate and postgraduate students of Abeokuta and Egbaland in general, was established in his name and still exists.


Philanthropy

After his death in 1978, the A. G. Leventis Foundation was established in 1979. It has a primary focus on the cultural heritage of Cyprus and Greece, especially reflected in its collections of Cypriot antiquities displayed in several museums around the world, its restoration of cultural monuments, and its sponsorship of scholarships for postgraduate work in several fields including archaeology and agriculture. The foundation also sponsors work in the areas of environmental protection and medical research. In 1987, the A. G. Leventis Gallery was opened in the
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
to display Cypriot antiquities from the early Bronze Age to the Roman era. In 1997, a similar display was opened at the
Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities University museum, museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard ...
, and in 2000 another at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
, New York. In 2008, the A. G. Leventis Foundation endowed a new
chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. It may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...
at
Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
in
Greek culture The culture of Greece has evolved over thousands of years, beginning in Minoan and later in Mycenaean Greece, continuing most notably into Classical Greece, while influencing the Roman Empire and its successor the Byzantine Empire. Other cultu ...
— the A. G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture. Other endowments by the foundation include, in 1997, a visiting professorship in Greek studies at the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
, in 2015 a chair in Byzantine Studies also at the University of Edinburgh, and in 2017 a professorship of Greek Culture at
Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...
.


Private life

The earliest records of his family go back to the 18th century, when a young ancestor had traveled to the Peloponnese to join the abortive 1770 uprising against Ottoman rule (known to history as the Orlov revolt). By the time of his birth, his family counted a number of distinguished clerics, who served at the highest levels — metropolitan bishops, patriarchs from the Orthodox churches of Jerusalem and of Antioch, as well as from the
Church of Cyprus The Church of Cyprus () is one of the autocephalous Greek Orthodox churches that together with other Eastern Orthodox churches form the communion of the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is one of the oldest Eastern Orthodox autocephalous churches; ...
. He was uncle to Constantine (Dino) Leventis (1938–2002), businessman and major art benefactor of Hellenic art at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
in New York and other museums around the world: in April 2000, the Metropolitan Museum opened the A.G. Leventis Foundation Gallery, where the museum's collection of Cypriot sculpture, terracottas, vases, jewelry and coins from the 5th and 4th centuries BC are displayed. The foundation also helped pay for similar galleries devoted to ancient Greek and Cypriot art in the
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
, the
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...
in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
and the
Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities University museum, museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard ...
at
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
, among others, according to its latest annual report. In Greece, it has financed extensive archeological work.


References


External links


Leventis Foundation websiteConglomerate Business A.G Leventis Nigeria Plc
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leventis, Anastasios George 1902 births 1978 deaths 20th-century Cypriot businesspeople Cypriot expatriates in Nigeria