George Averoff

In memoriam

Business Magnate, Philanthropist. Born in Metsovo in the North of Greece, near to the border with Albania. When he was a young man, he moved to Alexandria in Egypt. There he made his fortune in trade, and founded the High School and the Girls' Institute. Back in Greece, he was the founder of the Military Academy, the Juvenile Prisons, and the Athens Polytechnic. In honour of his birthplace, the official name of the latter is the National Metsovian Polytechnic. In 1896, when Baron Pierre de Coubertin revived the Olympic Games, it was decided that the first games of the modern era should be held in the country where the ancient games had originated, although the Baron wanted them to take place in Paris. Unfortunately, the Greek government had insufficient money to build a stadium, and it seemed that the games would have to be held elsewhere, probably in Budapest, until Averoff was asked to make a contribution. In fact, he paid for the entire cost of the stadium (the Panathenia) himself. In his honour was named the battleship Averoff, which was launched in 1910 at Leghorn in Italy, and remained the flagship of the Greek fleet until 1951. It can be seen at the Naval Museum of Greece in Palaio Faliro, about four miles South East of Athens.

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