Madame Panaghi Vagliano, née Catherine Vegdatopoulo, m (?) Panaghi Vagliano, Greek shipping magnate[1]
Panayis Athanase Vagliano (Greek: Παναγής Βαλλιάνος Panagis Vallianos; 1814–1902) was a Greek merchant and shipowner, acclaimed as the 'father of modern Greek shipping'.
He was born in Kerameies on the Greek island of Cefalonia, where he first became a sailor, before becoming part of the Greek diaspora.
He joined his brothers Marinos and Andreas, initially settling in Taganrog, Russian Empire around 1840. Together they formed Vaglianos Bros. as grain-merchants and shippers, making good profits from the high prices of grain during the Crimean War. It is said that they sometimes bought the whole Russian wheat export crop, and were pioneers of exchange-traded wheat contracts.
After the war ended, fellow Greeks had problems finding shippers for their cargoes from the Great Powers; Vaglianos Bros. stepped in and offered them financing and transport on their own ships.
Vagliano moved his business to London in 1858, as grain merchants, bankers, and shippers, but kept in contact with Russia through his brothers. There was already a well-established Greek merchant community in London, and they assisted his membership of the Baltic Exchange from where his business thrived. His operation based in London avoided restrictive Greek commercial laws, enabling him to loan money to other Greeks for shipbuilding, and he was quoted as wishing for 'the seas covered with a thick forest of Greek masts'.
Vagliano Bros. continued operating after his death, and survived the loss of its traditional markets in Russia and Turkey after World War I by concentrating on shipping and finance; in this way they helped develop Greek shipping dynasties.
However, he is probably best remembered in his native Greece for a donation that funded the National Library of Greece in Athens. He was also a philanthropist in London, and donated money towards Saint Sophia Cathedral in London and the Greek Orthodox cemetery within West Norwood Cemetery, where he is interred next to his brother Marinos in a grand neoclassical Greek mausoleum modelled on the Tower of the Winds, now listed Grade II. At his death he was enormously wealthy (his estate was valued at £3M) and he willed a considerable legacy to Kefalonia for charitable purposes.
The statue of the Greek benefactor Panagis A. Vallianos on the central square of Argostoli, Kefalonia. The square ("Plateia Vallianou") is named after Vallianos.
See more:
He was born in Kerameies on the Greek island of Cefalonia, where he first became a sailor, before becoming part of the Greek diaspora.He joined his brothers Marinos and Andreas, initially settling in Taganrog, Russian Empire around 1840. Together they formed Vaglianos Bros. as grain-merchants and shippers, making good profits from the high prices of grain during the Crimean War. It is said that they sometimes bought the whole Russian wheat export crop, and were pioneers of exchange-traded wheat contracts.
After the war ended, fellow Greeks had problems finding shippers for their cargoes from the Great Powers; Vaglianos Bros. stepped in and offered them financing and transport on their own ships.
Vagliano moved his business to London in 1858, as grain merchants, bankers, and shippers, but kept in contact with Russia through his brothers. There was already a well-established Greek merchant community in London, and they assisted his membership of the Baltic Exchange from where his business thrived. His operation based in London avoided restrictive Greek commercial laws, enabling him to loan money to other Greeks for shipbuilding, and he was quoted as wishing for 'the seas covered with a thick forest of Greek masts'.
Vagliano Bros. continued operating after his death, and survived the loss of its traditional markets in Russia and Turkey after World War I by concentrating on shipping and finance; in this way they helped develop Greek shipping dynasties.
However, he is probably best remembered in his native Greece for a donation that funded the National Library of Greece in Athens. He was also a philanthropist in London, and donated money towards Saint Sophia Cathedral in London and the Greek Orthodox cemetery within West Norwood Cemetery, where he is interred next to his brother Marinos in a grand neoclassical Greek mausoleum modelled on the Tower of the Winds, now listed Grade II. At his death he was enormously wealthy (his estate was valued at £3M) and he willed a considerable legacy to Kefalonia for charitable purposes.
The statue of the Greek benefactor Panagis A. Vallianos on the central square of Argostoli, Kefalonia. The square ("Plateia Vallianou") is named after Vallianos.
See more:
Creating Global Shipping: Aristotle Onassis, the Vagliano Brothers, and the Business of Shipping, c.1820–1970
Cambridge University Press, Aug 29, 2019 - Business & Economics - 398 pages
The unique success of the Greeks was that they created the global shipping business while still retaining the traditional family character that had characterized Greek shipping. What happened to the Vagliano and Onassis businesses after their deaths? They both left public benefit foundations and a great legacy in Greek shipping. Their main contribution was in developing the institution of the shipping firm. The element that characterised them was innovation in management and in the creation of new institutional framework in shipping business at critical moments of transition of the Greek shipping business. The Vaglianos invented the “London shipping office,” a hybrid form of shipowning and ship-management office that led Greek shipping firms into the twentieth century. Onassis pioneered the modern model of the global shipping company, with the use of multiple offshore companies, flags of convenience and management from many locations. The stories of the two businesses indicate the use of the local to reach the global, of how local European maritime culture has made the world trade function.
The three Vaglianos reached their apogee as an international trading company during the 1860s-1880s. It is during this time that they opened the path of the Greeks to global shipping, and made maritime and commercial transactions on an equal basis with the world’s best; in 1881, in London they had a turnover of about £8 million sterling when Schröders had a turnover of £4 million and Rothschild’s £12 million. This chapter analyzes the functioning of their international trading house in trade, finance, and shipping. During the 1850s-1880s, the Vaglianos became the leading international trading house of the Greek entrepreneurial network. In 1858, following the tremendous profits the House enjoyed after the Crimean War, Panagi Vagliano went to the City of London, a move that proved to be decisive. Their activities in banking and particularly the legal confrontation Vagliano vs. the Bank of England illustrates the importance of the Vagliano Brothers in the City of London and its institutions, and investigates the dynamic interrelationship between the foreign City merchant bankers and the development of financial institutions like the bill of exchange.
The three Vaglianos reached their apogee as an international trading company during the 1860s-1880s. It is during this time that they opened the path of the Greeks to global shipping, and made maritime and commercial transactions on an equal basis with the world’s best; in 1881, in London they had a turnover of about £8 million sterling when Schröders had a turnover of £4 million and Rothschild’s £12 million. This chapter analyzes the functioning of their international trading house in trade, finance, and shipping. During the 1850s-1880s, the Vaglianos became the leading international trading house of the Greek entrepreneurial network. In 1858, following the tremendous profits the House enjoyed after the Crimean War, Panagi Vagliano went to the City of London, a move that proved to be decisive. Their activities in banking and particularly the legal confrontation Vagliano vs. the Bank of England illustrates the importance of the Vagliano Brothers in the City of London and its institutions, and investigates the dynamic interrelationship between the foreign City merchant bankers and the development of financial institutions like the bill of exchange.
A landmark in the Vagliano’s shipping business, was the creation of a hybrid ship management office in London. The multinational dimension of their managing-agency operations made their London office a national bureau of sorts—a conduit enabling Greek shipowners to engage in international business. Essentially, this was a shipping company and agency for the national Greek fleet. Their London office created in 1858 provided the first model of a modern ship-management firm and became the driving force behind the globalization of both Greek-owned shipping and bulk shipping all over the world. The career of Aristotle Onassis was one of the results of the Vaglianos’ innovations. Onassis started his business from one of the twenty London offices that were formed after the death of Panaghi Vagliano. The Vagliano brothers pioneered the transition of Greek-owned shipping from sail to steam. They were prime movers in adopting steamships, launching an unprecedented programme of new ship building in British yards in the late 1870s to early 1880s.
[1] Date: 3 March 1899.
Occasion: The Court, 3 March 1899: presented by Dowager Countess De La Warr. Location: The Lafayette Studio, 179 New Bond Street, London, W. Descr: FL standing.
Costume: Court dress: "Magnificent Court gown, arranged with a Princess tunic in very handsome jet; over a rich white satin underdress, which fell out from under the tunic, and was finished with innumerable wavy frills of white gauze ribbon edged with black; the corsage was arranged with a soft fichu of white tulle, and had a bouquet of lovely pale ivory and black velvet roses; the exceptionally beautiful train in the richest ivory satin duchesse was draped with white chiffon and clusters of large pale ivory and black velvet roses, and was lined with white chiffon; the train was bordered inside and out in full soft ruches"
(see: The Court Journal, 11 March 1899, p 414b-c). Costume Supplier: Miss Agnes Bell, 70 Grosvenor Street, London.
No comments:
Post a Comment