Georgios Sinas (, ; 20 November 1783 – 18 May 1856) was an Austrian-Greek entrepreneur and banker. He became a national benefactor of

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and was the father of another Greek national benefactor, Simon Sinas. He was also the founder of the

National Observatory of Athens The National Observatory of Athens (NOA; ) is a research institute in Athens, Greece. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest List of research institutes in Greece, research foundation in Greece. The Observatory was the first scientific research insti ...

Biography

Georgios Sinas was born in

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names of European cities in different languages (M–P)#N, names in other languages), less often spelled in English as Nish, is the list of cities in Serbia, third largest city in Serbia and the administrative cente ...

. The Sinas family came from Moscopole,

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

(now southern

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

). The ethnic origin of the family has been described as Aromanian,

Hellenized Hellenization or Hellenification is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language, and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonisation often led to the Hellenisation of indigenous people in the Hellenistic period, many of the te ...

Aromanian, or

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 ...

. Regardless of their ethnic origin, the Sinas family in Vienna were part of the social-cultural Greek merchant class which maintained close relations with the newly founded Greek state of their era. At an early age Sinas lost his mother and was raised by his aunt in

Serres Serres ( ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki. Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Northern Greece. The c ...

(today in

), where he lived during his first school years. Approximately in 1790 he moved with his father, the tobacco and cotton merchant Georgios Sinas the Elder (1753–1822), to the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

residence

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, where he finished his ground level studies. At the age of 20, he became involved with his father's businesses and managed to take initiatives and successfully expanded the family business. He became chief director of the National bank of Austria, a position that he retained for 25 years. Moreover, he became a successful banker and subsidized not only enterprises but states and royal families in Europe. Already in 1818, he and his father were raised to

Hungarian nobility The Kingdom of Hungary held a Nobility, noble class of individuals, most of whom owned landed property, from the 11th century until the mid-20th century. Initially, a diverse body of people were described as noblemen, but from the lat ...

by Emperor

Francis I of Austria Francis II and I (; 12 February 1768 – 2 March 1835) was the last Holy Roman Emperor as Francis II from 1792 to 1806, and the first Emperor of Austria as Francis I from 1804 to 1835. He was also King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, and served ...

. He has contributed financially in the construction of the Chain Bridge (Budapest), the first permanent connection across the Danube between Buda and Pest, which is used even today. His name is inscribed on the base of the south western foundation of the bridge on the Buda side. Georgios Sinas retained relations with the newly established

Kingdom of Greece The Kingdom of Greece (, Romanization, romanized: ''Vasíleion tis Elládos'', pronounced ) was the Greece, Greek Nation state, nation-state established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic. It was internationally ...

and in 1833 was made the ambassador of Greece to the Austrian Empire by King

Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants '' Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fr ...

, a position he held for the rest of his life. He financially supported the Greek community in Vienna and his family's hometown of Moscopole, modern southern

. Moreover, he donated huge amounts of money to philanthropic, cultural and educational institutions of the Greek state, like: * Arsakeio school in Athens. *

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...

. *A number of medical and archaeological institutions. Sinas' greatest donation to Greece was the financing of the Athens National Observatory (1845) a work of the Danish architect

Theophil Hansen Baron Theophil Edvard von Hansen (; original Danish name: Theophilus Hansen, ; 13 July 1813 – 17 February 1891) was a Danish architect who later became an Austrian citizen. He became particularly well known for his buildings and structures in ...

.Imperialism and Science: Social Impact and Interaction. George Vlahakis. ABC-CLIO, 2006. His son, Simon Sinas, continued his work on the fields of business and benefaction.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinas, Georgios 1783 births 1856 deaths Greek philanthropists People from Niš Ambassadors of Greece Ambassadors to the Austrian Empire Austrian people of Greek descent Austrian people of Aromanian descent Greek people of Aromanian descent 19th-century philanthropists People from Serres Businesspeople from Vienna Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire Immigrants to the Austrian Empire 19th-century Greek diplomats