Evangelos Zappas

Evangelis Zappas (1800–1865), aka Evangelos Zappas, was a Greek businessman, philanthropist, and founder of the modern international Olympic Games. He was born in 1800 in Labovë, near Tepelenë, in the Ottoman Empire (now part of the Gjirokastër region of southern Albania). He later fought with the Greek resistance forces in the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Turks. In 1831 he emigrated to the border of Wallachia and Moldavia (now part of Romania and Moldova).

In 1856 he wrote to King Otto of Greece offering 400 shares in the steamship company so that the dividends could be used to establish the Olympic Games, the Olympiad, and to provide prizes to the Olympian victors. In 1859, he succeeded in reviving the Olympic Games in a city square in Athens, Greece. Zappas died before the next Games that he had sponsored, but due to his bequeathing a large part of his fortune for the continued revival of the Olympic Games, they were held again in 1870, and 1875 at the Panathenian stadium in Athens. [cite book | first= | last= | year= 1996 | title= The Modern Olympics - A Struggle for Revival| publisher= The Johns Hopkins University Press | id=ISBN 0-8018-5374-5 | url= | authorlink= | author= David C. Young]

Zappas had funded the refurbishment of the Panathenian stadium and the building of the first modern, purpose-built, Olympic building called the Zappeion. The head of Zappas is buried beneath his memorial outside the Zappeion in Athens which is located opposite the Panathenian stadium. Baron Pierre de Coubertin made a similar gesture by having his heart buried at Olympia.

Evangelis Zappas re-established the Olympic Games for the first time since they were held in ancient Greece and these foundations were used by Baron Pierre de Coubertin and the International Olympic Committee (founded in 1894). Competitors attended the Olympic Games from both Greece and the Ottoman Empire making them international from 1859. [cite book | first= | last= | year= 1996 | title= The Modern Olympics - A Struggle for Revival| publisher= The Johns Hopkins University Press | id=ISBN 0-8018-5374-5 | url= | authorlink= | author= David C. Young] [cite book | first= | last= | year= 1988 | title= Επιτροπή Ολυμπίων και Κληροδοτημάτων, Ζάππειο 1888-1988| publisher= Economic Ministry of the Olympic Committee and Legacy at the Zappeion Megaro | url=http://www.zappeion.gr/ | authorlink= | author= Dimitri Iatridi, Grigori Ksirogianni, Georgio Andreaki, Konstantino Zappa, Iaonni Joachimidi, Panagioti Samartzi, Georgio Tsiami | language=Greek]

The Olympic Games, sponsored by Zappas, were held in the Panathenian stadium in 1870 and 1875. The stadium was later used for the Olympic Games held in 1896, 1906, and 2004. The Zappeion was used as the Olympic Press Center during the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

References

ources

* [http://www.zappas.org/zappas.html Abridged Biography of Evangelis Zappas]
* [http://www.zappas.org/timeline.html Timeline of the Modern Olympic Games]
* [http://www.zappeion.gr/en/index.asp Zappeion Megaron]
* [http://sunsite.nus.edu.sg/olympics/revival/ Olympics Through Time]