George (Ioannis) Zarifi

Notes:

Occupation: merchant; founder of Zafiropoulo & Zarifi

They had five children but only those who are spouses to bloodline Agelastos are included on this website.

Greek citizenship 1830; left Greece 1843; directed Ottoman finances and Greek-Turk affairs.

Georgios Zarifi sought refuge in Odessa with his parents in the time of the Greek War of Independence and that he attended the Lycee Richelieu. He returned to Greece in 1830 and settled permanently in Constantinople in 1843.

The late Georges Zariphi, merchant, Constantinople, was a donating member, Association for the Encouragement of Greek Studies, Paris, France

George Zarifis is listed among the 11 greeks who were bankers in Constantinople from the 1840s.

G. Zarifi, Constantinople, is listed among the diaspora Greeks donating 3000 [Ottoman pounds] to a fund for the Thebes earthquake in 1853.

His brother-in-law was Étienne Zafiropoulo, a leader of the second generation of Greek merchants in Marseille.

Christopher Long notes: Occupation -- Founder in Constantinople the vast bank and trading house of Zafiropoulo & Zarifi (Z&Z) with his father-in-law Dimitrios Zafiropoulo and brother-in-law Stephanos, with branches in London, Marseille, Danube and Odessa. Education -- Tsar Alexander l gave him free entry to the Lycée Richelieu (Lyceum Richelowski), Odessa. Returned to Constantinople in 1831 despairing of the chaos in Greece. Entered Dimitrios Zafiropoulo’s cereal trading house, married his daughter and took over as partner. Great benefactor of Greek Communities in Constantinople and Philippoupolis. He and Stephanos Zafiropoulo founded Turkey’s most important banking and commercial company which, as Z&Z, extended to Marseilles, London, Odessa and Romania. Looked after the Constantinople headquarters for 40 years while Stepanos Zafiropoulo developed the Marseilles branch and Zarifi brothers developed other branches. Banker to his friend Prince Abdul Hamid who unexpectedly became Sultan of the Ottoman Empire when his brother went mad. Established the Ottoman Debt Company to relieve himself of the Sultan’s financial demands. The Sultan gave him 150,000 acres on the Mesopotamian River in Baghdad and as collateral for loans granted him the customs duties in many Turkish ports. George refused membership of parliament as he would have had to renounce his Greek nationality. He was a patron and benefactor on a colossal scale of innumerable Greeks and Greek institutions throughout the Ottoman Empire - his reputation was world-wide and rehearsed in The Globe (16-04-1881) and in his obituary in The New York Herald (1884).

Georges Zarifi is among the 15 bankers who signed an agreement with the Ottoman government in Nov 1879 to ensure sufficient capital, A. Du Velay, Essai sur l'histoire financière de la Turquie : depuis le règne du sultan Mahmoud II jusqu'à nos jours, Paris, 1903, p. 400.

Family/Spouse: Eleni (Dimitrios) Zafiropoulo. Eleni was born on 07 Jul 1817 in Tzoubali, Phanar, Constantinople/Istanbul Turkey; died on 18 May 1910 in Constantinople/Istanbul, Turkey; was buried in Sisli, Sea of Marmara, Constantinople/Istanbul Turkey. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Pericles (George) Zarifi was born on 27 Mar 1844 in Constantinople/Istanbul, Turkey; died on 05 Jul 1927 in allées Léon Gambetta, Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur,France; was buried on 06 Jul 1927 in St. Pierre Cemetery, Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhone, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France.
2. Sophia (George) Zarifi was born on 24 Mar 1848 in Constantinople/Istanbul, Turkey; died on 07 Jun 1923 in rue de la Faisanderie 106, Paris 16ème, Île-de-France, France; was buried on 13 Jun 1923 in Ancien cimetière de Boulogne-sur-Seine, Val de Seine Paris 92100.