Ioannis Pangas or Bangas (, 1814–1895) 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 ...

wealthy merchant and philanthropist. He donated vast sums of money to the Greek state, as well as to educational, cultural and humanitarian institutions of the Greek communities in Greece and the Ottoman ruled Greek world.

Life

He was born in a Greek family in Ottoman Korce, present-day 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 ...

. Though his father Georgios Pangas was also a notable merchant and philanthropist, Ioannis Pangas made his own fortune. He initially moved to Thebes and then to

Chalkis Chalcis (; Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: , ), also called Chalkida or Halkida (Modern Greek: , ), is the chief city of the island of Euboea or Evia in Greece, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved fro ...

. At 1833 in order to expand his professional activities, he moved to

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

(

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

) and then

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. At a mature age he settled in

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 ...

. Because of his character and hard-working nature he managed to make a fortune.

Benefactory deeds and legacy

In 1889–88 he donated a significant amount of money for the maintenance and expansion of the Greek schools in his home city Korce, where he also established new libraries and donated a huge amount of educational material at his personal expense. Thus, he became one of the main contributors of the

Lasso fund Lasso Fund () was a community fund established in the town of Korçë in 1850 in order to safeguard donations and bequests of the local Orthodox diaspora. As a result, Greek-language schools for the Orthodox community as well as churches, pharmaci ...

, a community fund that supported the foundation and support of Greek cultural institutions in Korce. The Greek Gymnasium of his home town was named

Bangas Gymnasium The Bangas Gymnasium () or Gymnasium of Korytsa, was a Greek secondary level school in Korcë (Greek: Korytsa), southern Albania, from 1856 to 1930. It was named after its benefactor, Ioannis Pangas (or Bangas). The Bangas Gymnasium became one ...

after him. While living in Athens, he built a luxurious mansion, designed by the German architect

Ernst Ziller Ernst Moritz Theodor Ziller (; , ''Ernestos Tsiller'' ; 22 June 1837 – 4 November 1923) was a German-born university teacher and architect who later became a Greek national. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he was a major designe ...

, at the center of the Greek capital (on

Omonoia square Omonoia Square (, ''Plateía Omonoías'', , "Concord Square", often simply referred to as ''Omónoia'' ) is a central square in Athens. Forming the centre of Omonoia. It marks the northern corner of the downtown area defined by the city plans of ...

) as well as a second manor, also designed by Ziller, adjacent to his home. On 16 August 1889, Pangas donated to the Greek state his fortune and all of his possessions, as an act of philanthropy to aid the rebuilding of Athens and the growth of the new Greek state. He retained only 1,000

drachma Drachma may refer to: * Ancient drachma, an ancient Greek currency * Modern drachma The drachma ( ) was the official currency of modern Greece from 1832 until the launch of the euro in 2001. First modern drachma The drachma was reintroduce ...

s per month in order to lead a decent life. This form of benefaction was quite unusual, to offer to donate one's fortune while living rather than upon death. Greek prime minister

Charilaos Trikoupis Charilaos Trikoupis (; 11 July 1832 – 30 March 1896) was a Greek politician who served as a Prime Minister of Greece seven times from 1875 until 1895. He is best remembered for introducing the vote of confidence in the Greek constitution, p ...

personally noted the significance of Pangas's philanthropy. Pangas's mansion and adjacent manor still stand at Omonoia square. The former operated for many years as the Hotel Alexander the Great. The latter came to be known as the "Pangeion" or "Bangeion" or "Baggeion" () and has been used to house universities and other educational institutions.

References

Sources

Epirus, 4000 years of Greek history and civilization.
M. V. Sakellariou. Ekdotike Athenon, 1997. .

Hotel ''Alexander the Great''

Baggeion

Epirot benefactors
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pangas, Ioannis 1814 births 1895 deaths Businesspeople from the Ottoman Empire Expatriates in Egypt Immigrants to Greece 19th-century Greek businesspeople Greek philanthropists People from Korçë 19th-century Greek philanthropists