Constantine Corniaktos

Konstanty Korniakt
Portrait of Korniakt at prayer
Born	Konstantinos Korniaktos (Κωνσταντίνος Κορνιακτός) 1517 Candia, Kingdom of Candia
Died	1603 Lwów, Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Residence	Lwów
Known for	Financing the construction of the Korniakt Palace in Lviv,
Spouse(s)	Anna Dzieduszycka
Children	7 children

Konstanty Korniakt (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Κορνιακτός, Konstantinos Korniaktos; c. 1517 – August 1, 1603) was a Moldavian merchant of Greek descent, active throughout Central and Eastern Europe; a leaseholder of royal tolls who collected customs duty on behalf of the king. During his lifetime he was the wealthiest man in Lviv (Lwów, in Polish) and even owned numerous villages. He was a wholesale merchant and founder of the Korniakt family dynasty.

Korniaktos, a Greek, was born in the city of Candia (today Heraklion) on Crete in 1517. He moved to Constantinople at a young age where already in 1540 he became a wealthy merchant. Later he moved to Moldavia where he lived for the rest of his life. Sometime in 1960s or maybe in 1554 Korniakt settled in the city of Lwów (now Lviv, Ukraine) where he took over a business of his older brother Michael. Note that already at the time Moldavia in Lviv was closely associated with Walachia. The King of Poland Sigismund II Augustus granted him official title of nobility on February 12, 1571 as szlachcic Konstanty Korniakt, also awarded a number of other privileges, thereby establishing the Krucina coat of arms.Krucina,

Konstanty Korniakt dealt with international trade, especially from the Ottoman Empire and countries in Germany. He became a merchant and traded in wine, cloth, cotton, honey, hides and furs and soon became very wealthy, even lending money to the kings of Poland including Sigismund II Augustus, and other noble families.