*** Welcome to piglix ***

Basil Zaharoff

Basil Zaharoff
Zaharoff, Basil (Meurisse 1928) cropped.jpg
Basil Zaharoff in 1928
Born Zacharias Basileios Zacharoff
(1849-10-06)October 6, 1849
Muğla, Ottoman Empire
Died November 27, 1936(1936-11-27) (aged 87)
Monte Carlo, Monaco
Nationality Ottoman, Greek,
naturalised French
Other names Basileios Zacharias
Occupation Arms dealer, industrialist and philanthropist
Known for Vickers

Basil Zaharoff, GCB, GBE (born Basileios Zacharias Zacharoff, Greek: Βασίλειος Zαχαρίας Ζαχάρωφ; October 6, 1849 – November 27, 1936), usually known as Sir Basil Zaharoff (although, since he was not a British citizen, his knighthoods were only honorary and he was not strictly entitled to use the title), was a Greek-born arms dealer and industrialist. One of the richest men in the world during his lifetime, Zaharoff was variously described including “merchant of death” and “mystery man of Europe”. His success was forged through his cunning, often aggressive and sharp business tactics. These included the sale of arms to opposing sides in conflicts, sometimes delivering fake or faulty machinery, and reportedly sabotaging trade demonstrations.

Basileios Zacharias was the only son and eldest of four children of a Greek merchant, born in the Ottoman Empire town of Muğla. The Russian-sounding surname Zaharoff was adopted by his family when they lived in Russia as exiles following the anti-Greek "Easter pogroms" of 1821. The family returned to the Ottoman Empire in the 1840s and, by 1855, had returned to Constantinople living in the Greek neighbourhood of Tatavla.

Young Basileios' first job was as a tourist guide in the Galata. It is thought he then became an arsonist with the Istanbul firefighters: 19th-century firemen in Istanbul being less effective at extinguishing fires than the recovery or salvage of treasures from the rich for payment of a hefty commission.

Zaharoff was summoned to court in London over irregular commercial activities involving the export of goods from Istanbul to London. The London Greeks from Constantinople preferred such matters involving members of their community to be settled outside the English courts, and he was discharged on condition that he paid restitution to the claimant in the sum of £100, and remained within the court's jurisdiction. He immediately left for Athens, where the 24-year-old Zaharoff was befriended by a political journalist, Etienne Skouloudis. The eloquent Zaharoff succeeded in convincing Skouloudis of the rightness of his London court case.


...
Wikipedia

...