Kyriazi freres

Kyriazi (also incorrectly spelled ‘Kiriazi’) Freres was a cigarette manufacturing company established in 1873 in Egypt (some sources cite the year 1885). The company was founded by Ioannis Kyriazis, together with his brothers Efstathios and Epaminondas, although his other two brothers, George and Dimitris also played an active role in the company.

History

Ioannis’ father was Kyriazis Hadji-Kyriazis (b.1817) from Kissos, in Mt Pelion in Thessaly (Greece). He was a tobacco and overcoat merchant, married to Keratso Alexopulou (first wife) and Maria (b1820, second wife) [ Kyriazis family personal archives, Larnaca, Cyprus] . Ioannis went into the tobacco business in Smyrna, but was forced out of Greece by the imposition of the Turkish tobacco monopoly [Papastratos SA. History of Greek Cigarette, Athens 1998] . He founded a company for the importation of tobacco and a cigarette factory in Muski Street in Cairo in Egypt, which later became known as Kyriazi Freres. The company was formally established in 1873, as advertised on all their products. In 1897 the brothers constructed a purpose-built factory in the Cairo district of Tewfikieh and the brothers employed over 500 workers to manufacture hand-made cigarettes.

The company expanded due to a successful advertising campaign and their brands became known across Europe and the Middle East. They had an outlet in 20 Cheapside, London, as well as agents in Austria, Hungary and Switzerland. By 1901, Kyriazi Freres were exporting over 103 million cigarettes a year [The Connoisseur Magazine, 1901] . Some years later the sons of Ioannis (Damianos Kyriazis, and Costadinos b.1891-d.1962) opened custom-built factories in Amsterdam, Holland (1922) and in Hamburg, Germany (1925). [http://www.elia.org.gr/EntryImages%5C1%5C4_06.rtf] .

Their most well known brands were Aris, Astra, Conqueror Extra, Egyptica, Emir, Ferik, Finas, Ideal, Imperatore, Neptune, Special, and Zenith. These brands were awarded several quality awards in exhibitions and trade fairs.

Advertisement and Society

Advertisement campaigns by the firm played a part in the re-structuring of the Middle Eastern (particularly the Egyptian) social classes. This was because their campaigns were aimed at equating Western high social status with their brands, and using local up-and-coming gentlemen to endorse their products. Advertisers used the cigarette as a social status symbol. The advertisers wanted to reach a select small group of people, unlike today’s mass marketing techniques. In this particular case the aim was to reach the effendis (upward moving local professionals) and used a snob effect to persuade them that buying Kyriazi Freres cigarettes places them in the same class as their affluent Western counterparts. The advertisers portrayed the local smoker in chic surroundings, dressed elegantly and smoking the particular brand, associating wealth with increased cigarette consumption, and fame or celebrity status with smoking their brand, [Relli Shechter, Smoking, Culture and Economy in the Middle East: The Egyptian Tobacco. 2006 Tauris Publisher] . The success of the advertisers was also obvious in Europe, using an opposite effect. They used the brand’s glamorous Oriental mystique, persuading young Western smokers who wanted to boast connections with the exotic Middle East, to buy their brand.

Kyriazis Freres products and memorabilia are now highly decorated and valued by today’s collectors.

It was ironic that one of the brothers’ son (namely the son of George, Neoclis Kyriazis) became a medical doctor who, through his lectures on hygiene, warned the public about the health risks of tobacco smoke [Neoclis Kyriazis. History of Hygiene. Larnaca Municipality Archives] .

References