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First Bank of Athens (1894-1962)
Bank of Athens, was headquartered in Athens, Greece. The first was founded in 1893 and operated in the Balkans and the eastern Mediterranean until the National Bank of Greece acquired it in 1953. The name disappeared a few years thereafter.
In 1893 Ep. Empeirikos, Al. Lambrinoudis, A. Kallergis, M. Iordanopoulos, and N. Triantafyllidis founded the Bank of Athens with Greek, French, and English capital, and it apparently commenced operating in 1894.
A key figure in the early bank was Jean (John) Pesmatzoglou, an Alexandrian private banker who merged his bank with Bank of Athens, became chairman in 1896, and formed an alliance with Banque de l'Union parisienne in 1904.Pesmatzoglou's bank became Bank of Athens's branch in Alexandria, Egypt, where there was a large community of Greeks. In 1895 the Bank established branches in London, Constantinople, Smyrna, and Khartoum in theSudan. It established a second branch in the UK, at Manchester, in 1902.
In 1906, Bank of Athens acquired Industrial Credit Bank (Τράπεζα Επαγγελματικής Πίστεως; est. 1873 in Athens). It had opened a branch in Istanbul in 1905 and this transferred to Bank of Athens. Bank of Athens may also have had a branch in Smyrna. By 1910 Bank of Athens bank had added branches in Crete at Chania, Candia, and Rethymno, and Trebizond[1] and Samsoun in the Ottoman Empire.
In 1921 Bank of Athens opened a representative office in New York, that it later converted to an agency. By 1922, the Bank of Athens had branches throughout Greece, as well as in Limassol and Nicosia in Cyprus, Alexandria,Cairo, and Port Said in Egypt, Galata, Stamboul and Pera in Constantinople, Adrianopolis in "the former Turkey in Europe", and London and Manchester in England.[5] However, the next year, after the end of the Greco-Turkish War, the government of Turkey seized the Bank of Athens's branch in Constantinople. It is not clear whether the Bank of Athens had already closed its other branches in Constantinople, or the one in Adrianopolis, which had reverted to Turkish control, or whether the government seized these too. The Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki now occupies the Bank of Athens's former building in Salonika.
[1] By the start of the 20th century, the Greeks of Pontus owned buildings and assets of enormous wealth. They owned 37 formal philanthropic and cultural foundations, 1047 schools (primary and pre-secondary), 10 secondary schools (comprising 1236 teachers and professors, and 75,953 students), 22 monasteries and 1139 churches under the direction of 1459 priests.4 Much of this wealth was centered around Trebizond.
According to figures collected by the British consul, the volume of shipping clearing the port of Trabzon rose from an average 15,225 tons a year in the early 1830's to 61,664 tons a year twenty years later. 177,861 tons a year in the early 1870's and 483,732 tons a year in the early 1890's. By 1882 the steamships of 5 different companies called weekly at Trabzon. The Greeks benefitted from this increase in trade and by the early 1900's had increased their wealth considerably. Of the 5 banks in Trebizond in operation, 3 of them were owned by members of the Greek community: The Bank of K.Theofylaktos, The Bank of Kapagiannidis and The Bank of Fostiropoulos. The 4th was a branch of the Ottoman bank and the 5th was a branch of the Bank of Athens.
Source: Greeks of Pontus
First Bank of Athens (1894-1962)Bank of Athens, was headquartered in Athens, Greece. The first was founded in 1893 and operated in the Balkans and the eastern Mediterranean until the National Bank of Greece acquired it in 1953. The name disappeared a few years thereafter.
In 1893 Ep. Empeirikos, Al. Lambrinoudis, A. Kallergis, M. Iordanopoulos, and N. Triantafyllidis founded the Bank of Athens with Greek, French, and English capital, and it apparently commenced operating in 1894.
A key figure in the early bank was Jean (John) Pesmatzoglou, an Alexandrian private banker who merged his bank with Bank of Athens, became chairman in 1896, and formed an alliance with Banque de l'Union parisienne in 1904.Pesmatzoglou's bank became Bank of Athens's branch in Alexandria, Egypt, where there was a large community of Greeks. In 1895 the Bank established branches in London, Constantinople, Smyrna, and Khartoum in theSudan. It established a second branch in the UK, at Manchester, in 1902.
In 1906, Bank of Athens acquired Industrial Credit Bank (Τράπεζα Επαγγελματικής Πίστεως; est. 1873 in Athens). It had opened a branch in Istanbul in 1905 and this transferred to Bank of Athens. Bank of Athens may also have had a branch in Smyrna. By 1910 Bank of Athens bank had added branches in Crete at Chania, Candia, and Rethymno, and Trebizond[1] and Samsoun in the Ottoman Empire.
In 1921 Bank of Athens opened a representative office in New York, that it later converted to an agency. By 1922, the Bank of Athens had branches throughout Greece, as well as in Limassol and Nicosia in Cyprus, Alexandria,Cairo, and Port Said in Egypt, Galata, Stamboul and Pera in Constantinople, Adrianopolis in "the former Turkey in Europe", and London and Manchester in England.[5] However, the next year, after the end of the Greco-Turkish War, the government of Turkey seized the Bank of Athens's branch in Constantinople. It is not clear whether the Bank of Athens had already closed its other branches in Constantinople, or the one in Adrianopolis, which had reverted to Turkish control, or whether the government seized these too. The Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki now occupies the Bank of Athens's former building in Salonika.
[1] By the start of the 20th century, the Greeks of Pontus owned buildings and assets of enormous wealth. They owned 37 formal philanthropic and cultural foundations, 1047 schools (primary and pre-secondary), 10 secondary schools (comprising 1236 teachers and professors, and 75,953 students), 22 monasteries and 1139 churches under the direction of 1459 priests.4 Much of this wealth was centered around Trebizond.
According to figures collected by the British consul, the volume of shipping clearing the port of Trabzon rose from an average 15,225 tons a year in the early 1830's to 61,664 tons a year twenty years later. 177,861 tons a year in the early 1870's and 483,732 tons a year in the early 1890's. By 1882 the steamships of 5 different companies called weekly at Trabzon. The Greeks benefitted from this increase in trade and by the early 1900's had increased their wealth considerably. Of the 5 banks in Trebizond in operation, 3 of them were owned by members of the Greek community: The Bank of K.Theofylaktos, The Bank of Kapagiannidis and The Bank of Fostiropoulos. The 4th was a branch of the Ottoman bank and the 5th was a branch of the Bank of Athens.
Source: Greeks of Pontus