Aristeidis Alafouzos
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Aristeidis Alafouzos (Greek: Αριστείδης Αλαφούζος; 9 March 1924 – 17 May 2017) 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 ...
shipowner A shipowner, ship owner or ship-owner is the owner of a ship. They can be merchant vessels involved in the shipping industry or non commercially owned. In the commercial sense of the term, a shipowner is someone who equips and exploits a ship, us ...
,
civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...
and media mogul. In the media area he was best known for his ownership of the Kathimerini newspaper.


Early life

Alafouzos was born in Oia on the island of
Santorini Santorini (, ), officially Thira (, ) or Thera, is a Greek island in the southern Aegean Sea, about southeast from the mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago formed by the Santorini caldera. It is the southern ...
to Ioannis Alafouzos a member of a shipping and political family on the island. A year after his birth there was a volcanic eruption on the island, which led his family to move to Piraeus, where Aristides went on to study at the Second Piraeus Middle School for Boys, excelling at mathematics. In September 1940 the family relocated to Athens, where he continued his high school education. At this time it was Alafouzos' intention to enter the Hellenic Navy Academy, but as the academy had closed due to the
German occupation of Greece The occupation of Greece by the Axis Powers () began in April 1941 after Nazi Germany invaded the Kingdom of Greece in order to assist its ally, Italy, in their ongoing war that was initiated in October 1940, having encountered major strategic ...
he transferred his attention to continuing his education at the
National Technical University of Athens The National (Metsovian) Technical University of Athens (NTUA; , ''National Metsovian Polytechnic''), sometimes known as Athens Polytechnic, a university in Athens, Greece. It is named in honor of its benefactors Nikolaos Stournaris, Eleni Tosi ...
(NTUA). Following the death of his father on 14 December 1941, Alafouzos, to support his family, took a job at a timber company in
Malakasa Malakasa () is a village and former community of East Attica in Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Oropos, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 10.450 km2. The municipal ...
, north of Athens. He left the job in the spring of 1943 to prepare for the entrance exams for the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), which he passed with top marks. As a result, he was able to obtain a scholarship which covered the cost of all of his studies. The reputation he had gained due to his scholarly performance allowed him to offer private tutorials to other students. Alafouzos graduated with a degree in civil engineering in 1949, specializing in hydraulic technology in road building and the construction of railroads, ports and industries. His studies had taken six years instead of the customary five as the university had been shut down for a year during the war. To gain practical experience he also worked at a civil engineering firm during the last two years of his studies.


Career

Following the completion of his mandatory military service between 1949 and 1951, Alafouzos was employed as the supervising engineer of construction works in the port of Piraeus. In 1952, Alafouzos was able to obtain from the Greek Ministry of Public Works the first of a series of building contracts. By late 1953, Alafouzos oversaw the construction of a nickel complex in
Larymna Larymna () is a port town in Phthiotis, Greece. It is situated on the North Euboean Gulf. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is a part of the municipality Lokroi, of which it is a community. Larymna took its name from the ancient Boeotia ...
on the Gulf of Evia. By August 1954, Alafouzos had managed to save enough money to enter the residential construction business. By 1956, Alafouzos had amassed enough experience to receive the special license that would allow him to bid for major public works. As a result, in that same year he founded "Aristidis Alafouzos" (which was later renamed "ATE ERGON") which subsequently played an important role in the postwar reconstruction of Greece. The company's notable projects were the
Hotel Mont Parnes Regency Casino Mont Parnes, also known as the Parnitha Casino, is a casino situated at Mount Parnitha north of Athens. Originally built as Hotel Mont Parnes, it was a luxury hotel designed by architect and was built between 1958 and 1961. It ...
(later renamed ''Regency Casino Mont Parnes'') on Mount Parnitha overlooking the north western suburbs of Athens and the large Asteras Vouliagmenis luxury hotel on the southern coast of Athens, both of these projects enjoying the patronage of prime minister
Constantine Karamanlis Konstantinos G. Karamanlis (, ; 8 March 1907 – 23 April 1998) was a Greek statesman who was the four-time Prime Minister of Greece and two-term president of the Third Hellenic Republic. A towering figure of Greek politics, his political caree ...
. Other significant projects included the construction of the basic infrastructure of the Nestos and Axios valley roads. In the 1960s, the
Public Power Corporation The Public Power Corporation S.A. (, abbreviated PPC, or DEIInfoCuriaCommission of the European Communities v Hellenic Republic Case C-394/02, published 2 June 2005, accessed 5 October 2022) is the largest electric power company in Greece. PPC ...
entrusted the company with the construction of its power station at
Ptolemaida Ptolemaida (, Katharevousa: Πτολεμαΐς, ''Ptolemaïs'') is a town and a former municipality in Kozani regional unit, Western Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Eordaia, of which it i ...
in northern Greece. This company ceased to operate in the late 1960s, when Alafouzos stopped working as a civil engineer, residing overseas while the country was ruled by the
Greek junta The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels was a Right-wing politics, right-wing military junta that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974. On 21 April 1967, a group of colonels with CIA backing 1967 Greek coup d'état, overthrew the caretaker gove ...
between 1967 and 1974.


Shipping

Prior to giving up engineering Alafouzos had decided in 1964 to carry on the family tradition in
shipping Freight transport, also referred to as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...
which led to him self-financing (with the profits of his engineering business) the purchase of a secondhand ship in 1965. By 1967 he had a fleet of five secondhand tramp steamers and bulk carriers. He opened an office in London, where he lived until April 1988. In 1967 he ordered two ships from the British
shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...
, a cargo ship from a Japanese shipyard, taking delivery of his first new build in 1968. At the same time, he opened an office in Tokyo, that reflected the strong ties he had developed with the Japanese market. He was to also establish an office in Moscow. In 1969, he ordered five ships from a German shipyard. In the early 1970s Alafouzos founded the Glafki (Hellas) Maritime Company to manage his shipping interests. In 1974, Alafouzos ordered ships of 140,000 dwt capacity of carrying both liquid and dry cargo from Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries, in a joint venture with K-Line. In 1985 Alafouzos took advantage of the shipping slump to establish Kyklades Maritime Corporation with which he entered the
oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk cargo, bulk transport of petroleum, oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quant ...
market by taking advantage of a crisis in the shipping sector to buy 16 tankers aged between three and 10 years at a very good price By the mid-1980s, Alafouzos’ shipping interests owned 42 new cargo ships, most built in Japan. The company went on to order new ships at the end of the 1980s, acquiring 17 oil tankers. In 2000 Alafouzos had 35 ships in his fleet. Alafouzos' shipping companies, Glafki Maritime and Kyklades Maritime Corporation have always kept the Greek flag, with both companies among the biggest Greek shipping firms. Both of his children became involved in the companies, with Giannis going on to found the Ermis Maritime Corporation shipping company. During Alafouzos’ shipping career he ordered more than 100 vessels (always with high specifications) from British, German, Japanese, Chinese and Korean shipyards.


Media

In 1988, Alafouzos entered the world of media, when he purchased the Grammi SA publishing company during the auction sale of the assets of the banker George Koskotas, after the
Koskotas scandal Koskotas scandal () was a Greek corruption and financial scandal in 1988–1989 centered on George Koskotas, owner of the Bank of Crete and mass media magnate, implicating the highest-ranking members of the Greek government, including Prime Mini ...
. This company published the iconic Greek newspaper
Kathimerini ( Greek: Η Καθημερινή, ; ) is a daily, political and financial morning newspaper published in Piraeus, Athens. Its first edition was printed on 15 September 1919. is considered a newspaper of record and the leading right-wing newspape ...
. Under Alafouzos, Kathimerini grew in circulation and influence in Greece. Alafouzos was also able to purchase from Koskotas the SKY 100.4 radio station, which he developed into the
Skai Group Skai Group (News Dot Com S.A.) is one of the largest private media groups in Greece. It consists of one national television station, five radio stations, three web portals and one publishing house. The media group is connected with "Nees Kathimeri ...
, which grew to become one of Greece's largest media groups, with a television station, three radio stations, a news web portal and a publishing house. In 1998 the Kathimerini and the
International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France, for international English-speaking readers. It published under the name ''International Herald Tribune'' starting in 1967, but its ...
set up a joint venture to publish the English-language daily Kathimerini in Greece, Cyprus and Albania. Together with Giorgio Bobolas, Christos Lambrakis, Christos Tegopoulos and
Vardis Vardinogiannis Vardis Vardinogiannis (; 4 December 1933 – 12 November 2024) was a Greek billionaire oil and shipping businessman. He was the chairman and controlling shareholder of Motor Oil Hellas and Vegas Oil and Gas and involved in numerous other shippin ...
, Alafouzos was one of the five founding members of the Teletypos company who created the first private Greek television channel, Mega TV. This began broadcasting in November 1989. Later on Alafouzos left Teletypos.


Controversy

In later years SKAI opposed the government of
Konstantinos Mitsotakis Konstantinos Mitsotakis (, ; – 29 May 2017) was a Greek politician who was Prime Minister of Greece from 1990 to 1993. He graduated in law and economics from the University of Athens. His son, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, was elected as the Prime Mi ...
, with Alafouzos stating in an interview in October 1993 with the journalist Georgia Kontrarou that their relationship had broken down because the latter was constantly "asking for money" from 1989 elections onwards. Under Alafouzos' ownerships Kathimerini had a liberal-conservative political orientation. Alafouzos's media companies had controversial relations with the Tsipras led government, mostly centred on the Skai owned radio and TV stations. In 2015 both were boycotted by politicians of the Syriza party for a few days in 2015 and then for a more prolonged one in July 2018
Syriza The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance (), best known by the syllabic abbreviation SYRIZA ( ; ; a pun on the Greek adverb , meaning "from the roots" or "radically"), is a Centre-left politics, centre-left to Left-wing politi ...
and
Independent Greeks The Independent Greeks – National Patriotic Alliance (, ''Anexartitoi Ellines'', ANEL) was a national conservative political party in Greece. The party was the junior coalition partner to the Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza) in the ...
(ANEL) parties in the ruling coalition following criticism of the government's handling of the
2018 Attica wildfires A series of wildfires in Greece, during the 2018 European heat wave, began in the coastal areas of Attica (region), Attica in July 2018. 104 people were confirmed dead from the Mati fires. The fires were, at that time, the second-deadliest wildfi ...
. The boycott ended before the July 2019 elections.


Philanthropy

Alafouzos retained a lifelong affection for Santorini and visited the island frequently, contributing towards the construction of a modern hospital on the island and in 1992 donating a desalination plant to provide drinking water to Oia. He also lent his support to excavations at the prehistoric settlement of Akrotiri. Alafouzos and his wife financially contributed to the creation of an outpatient cancer clinic at Athens's Sotiria Hospital. Because of Alafouzos and his wife's support the unit was subsequently named after Lena Alafouzos in 2013.


Honours

In December 2015 he was awarded the Lloyd's List/Propeller Club Lifetime Achievement Award at the
Lloyd's List ''Lloyd's List'' is one of the world's oldest continuously running journals, having provided weekly shipping news in London as early as 1734. It was published daily until 2013 (when the final print issue, number 60,850, was published), and i ...
Greek Shipping Awards." He was also honored with the "
Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese honors system, Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge feat ...
" by the
Emperor of Japan The emperor of Japan is the hereditary monarch and head of state of Japan. The emperor is defined by the Constitution of Japan as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, his position deriving from "the will of ...
and with the honorary title of "Friendship Ambassador" by the Chinese government.


Death

Alafouzos died on 17 May 2017 at the age of 93. Following his funeral in Athens he was buried in Oia.


Personal life

Alafouzos married Eleni "Lena" Valaouris in 1955. Eleni who had been born in 1929 died in 2012. Their son,
Giannis Yannis, Yiannis, or Giannis (Γιάννης) is a common Greek given name, a variant of ''John'' (Hebrew) meaning "God is gracious." In formal Greek (e.g. all government documents and birth certificates) the name exists only as Ioannis (Ιωάνν ...
, was born in 1957, and Themistocles was born the following year.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alafouzos, Aristide 1924 births 2017 deaths Greek engineers People from Santorini Greek businesspeople in shipping Greek newspaper publishers (people)