Evangelos Zappas

Evangelos Zappas was a Greek patriot and philanthropist who donated most of the funds to the Greek government to begin a series of Games, later known as the Zappas Olympic Games, that were one of the most prominent attempts at revival of the Olympics prior to Pierre de Coubertin and the 1896 Athina Olympics.

Zappas fought in the Greek War of Independence (1821-32), after which he moved to Wallachia in present-day Romania, where he became a wealthy businessman, mainly in land and agricultural speculation. He lived most of his life in Wallachia.

In addition to the Zappas Olympic Games, of which four were held, three after his death, Zappas’s fortune was used to help fund the restoration of the Panathenaic Stadium in Athina, the site of most of the events of the 1896 Olympic Games. This effort was led by his cousin, Konstantinos, who also used the fortune to construct an exhibition building, known as the Zappeion, where other events of the 1896 Olympic Games were held.

Besides the Olympic Games, Zappas’s philanthropy helped fund many Greek schools in smaller towns, many of these termed the Zappeion Institute. He funded scholarships for Greek agricultural students in Western Europe, and supported projects on the history of the Romanians and a Romanian dictionary.

Zappas wished to be buried in Romania, but his body was later exhumed and buried in Labovo (Labovë), in present-day Albania, where he had been born. However, his skull was removed and placed in a crypt near his memorial statue outside the Zappeion in Athina.