10 Facts About Christakis Zografos

Christakis Zografos was an Ottoman Greek banker, benefactor and one of the distinguished personalities of the Greek community of Constantinople.

Christakis Zografos attended the Zosimaia School in Ioannina and then went to Constantinople to join his father's business there.

Christakis Zografos was initially a co-partner in a small money changing stand at Galata.

Christakis Zografos became one of its leading bankers and financiers and president of the Ottoman capital's trolley company.

Christakis Zografos was awarded by three sultans, sat on the Imperial Board of Estimate and served as president of the Ecumenical Patriarchate's Clerico-Lay Advisory Board.

Christakis Zografos was sent to France to try and sell it and never returned to the city.

Christakis Zografos lavishly endowed educational and other facilities for the Greek communities living in regions that belonged, at that time, to the Ottoman Empire.

Christakis Zografos offered large sums of money for the establishment of two middle schools in Constantinople: one in Beyoglu, the other a school for girls in Yenikoy on the Bosphorus.

Christakis Zografos sponsored the rebuilding of a Greek library in the city and gave 1,000-franc endowments to the universities of Munich and Paris for awards in the fields of Greek literature and history.

Christakis Zografos offered annual scholarships to 60 students from poor families to cover their living costs while they studied.