Alexandros Kontostavlos

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Alexandros Kontostavlos by Georgios Jakobides.

Alexandros Kontostavlos (Greek: Αλέξανδρος Κοντόσταυλος; 1789, Chios – 1865, Athens) was a Greek banker, magnate and politician.

Biography

Konstavlos was born on the island of Chios in 1789 and descended from a noble family that traced its origins to the

Greek Revolution served as an envoy to the United States for the purchase of warships. In 1828, Governor Ioannis Kapodistrias named him a member of the financial committee and sent him to Malta, where he purchased the mint that was used to produce the first modern Greek currency, the Phoenix
.

Under King Otto of Greece, he was elected several times to Parliament for Karystos, and served as Minister of Finance on 5 October 1855 – 2 July 1856. From December 1856 to July 1856, he was Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament.

He died in Athens in 1865. His son, Alexandros A. Kontostavlos, was a diplomat and politician.