Yiannis Latsis

Giannis Latsis ( born September 14, 1910 in Katakolon, † 17 April 2003 in Athens ), also known as John Spyridon Latsis and Captain John, was a Greek shipping tycoon and of shipment. He achieved fame by his great wealth, his influential friends and his activities for charitable purposes.

Life

Was born Yiannis Latsis in Katakolon, a small town in the prefecture of Elis, who was then living from fishing. He was the seventh of 21 children in the family, so he had to work in early childhood in order to contribute to the family income. He attended trade school in Pyrgos and the school for merchant navy captains. Had he still worked as a fisherman, casual workers and sailor during his training, he then started his career as a captain in the merchant navy. In 1938 he bought his first cargo ship; up in the 1960s, he rose to the large main shipowners in Greece.

In the late 1960s Latsis diversified its activities and invested in Greece and Saudi Arabia in the oil business. He built his business group from continuously acquired banks, construction companies and refineries. His European Financial Group maintains banks in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Monaco, the Channel Islands and Greece.

Latsis had close friendships with some celebrities, whom he his luxury yacht Alexandros presented among others available. These included Prince Charles, Princess Diana, and later Camilla Parker-Bowles. Close links were also to former President George Bush and his family as well as Colin Powell and actor Marlon Brando. In addition, he was friends with members of the Saudi royal family.

Latsis founded 1975, the Latsis Foundation in support of cultural projects, such as a Greek translation of the Koran. With generous donations he supported the earthquake victims in Greece, Egypt and Armenia. His cruise ship Marianna 9 he set in 1986 after the earthquake in Greece as a floating hotel for 900 homeless available.

Family

Giannis Latsis married Erietta Tsoukala. They had three children: Spiros, Marianna and Margarita and nine grandchildren.

Marianna Latsis married the water ski instructor Grigoris Kasidokostas who successfully ran for mayor of the Athens suburb of Vouliagmeni coast. From this marriage came out Kasidokostas Paris (also known as Paris Latsis Kasidokostas ), who made headlines for his engagement with Paris Hilton.