Stephanos Skouloudis

Stephanos Skouloudis (Greek: Στέφανος Σκουλούδης; November 23, 1838 – August 19, 1928) was a Greek banker, diplomat and the 34th Prime Minister of Greece.

He was born in Istanbul on November 23, 1838. His parents, John and Zena Skouloudis, were originally from Crete and his father was a businessman in Constantinople, where Skouloudis completed grade school. In 1852, he was sent to Athens to attend high school, after which he completed medical school at the University of Athens. In 1859, Skouloudis joined the famed trading house of Ralli and became a manager of its import/export business, advancing, by 1863, to head of Turkish operations. In 1871, along with Andreas Syngros, Skouloudis founded the Bank of Constantinople. Skouloudis occasionally assisted the Greek government with diplomatic matters with the Ottoman Empire. He earned great wealth, and by 1876, Skouloudis moved permanently to Athens.

In Athens, Skouloudis became active politically, and the crisis of 1877 provided him an opportunity to serve the government. As the "Eastern Crisis" developed into the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, Skouloudis was a secret emissary to the Albanian population outside Greece's borders. He also served as a representative of the city of Ioannina in talks leading to the Congress of Berlin which readjusted the border between Greece and the Ottoman Empire after that war.

Besides his diplomatic efforts, Skouloudis also involved himself in other public service. He was appointed to the Board of Governors of the Bank of Greece in 1880. In 1882, he formed the first company to drain Lake Copais, a lake that abutted very productive farmland north of Thebes, and which sometimes flooded.

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