1. Place of origin: an important seamanship place

The family’s origin from Korianna of Leivathou, in Argostoli of Kefalonia (Cephallonia), is not accidental. From the area of Leivathou come most of the mariners of Kefalonia,¹ whereas the island is the most important nucleus for the development of the Ionian Sea and of the Greek-owned shipping in general.² From the Leivathou area in south Kefalonia originated the most and the most important ship-owners, such as the families of Fokas, Valsamakis, Kalligas, Inglesis, Kouppas, Svoronos, Vergotis, Vallianos, from which many, like the Lykiardopoulos family, remain active until today.³

2. The Lykiardopoulos family in the 18th century: the beginnings of the Greek-owned shipping

Based on the data of the “Amphitrite” program we come to the conclusion that the Lykiardopoulos family was amongst the families with the most entries concerning the origins of the captain of the ship, after the Valsamakis, Kountouris, Kouppas and Kalligas families. The earliest mention of a Lykiardopoulos is to be found in the registers of the Board of Health of Malta and is dated to the year 1752, when the ship “Panagia of Skopos” or “Saint Nikolaos” of Giannis Lykiardopoulos with 14 mariners arrives at Valetta from Patras after a 15-day journey.⁴

For the remaining time period of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century the appearance of the name of the family remains frequent (see the table in the auxiliary catalogues).

From the data presented in the table no exact information for the reconstruction of the family tree of the Lykiardopoulos family can be drawn; it is, however, useful to note the dynamic of each member separately from the frequency of the references and from the time period which is covered by his activity, without of course excluding the occasional synonymity.

The important activity of the Lykiardopoulos family as well as of the captains from Kefalonia in general should be placed within the framework of the general rise of the seamanship of the Ionian Sea and of western Greece in the 18th century, with its main centres being Kefalonia but also Mesolongi (Missolonghi). The reasons and the conditions which led to the development of the seamanship in the abovementioned regions, which also mark the beginning of the great development of the Greek-owned shipping in general, have been studied in various occasions, mainly in the last years, by many historians based on the data of the recently compiled “Amphitrite, 1700-1821” program. The area of activity of the family, as well as of the other captains from Kefalonia, was basically the Adriatic Sea, mainly the route Kefalonia-Corfu-Venice, or other important centres of the Mediterranean, such as Malta. From the beginning of the 19th century, with the acquisition of larger ships, it will expand further towards the Levant, the western Mediterranean and the coasts of north Africa.

3. The 19th century: the turn towards the Danube and the Black Sea. The Ionian Network

During the Greek War of Independence and the first years of the Greek nation-state, we see the Lykiardopoulos family very active in Syros, the great shipping centre of Greece and of the eastern Mediterranean. There they build,⁵ sell and buy ships or shares of ships,⁶ but also present themselves as “captains of the flag”, i.e. they sell the rights to carry the Ionian flag to ships of non-Ionian owners, a very profitable, apparently, practice for the mariners in the turbulent years of 1827-1832.⁷

In general, during the 19th century, through the available published sources, G. Lykiardopoulos appears to be more active with his brigs “Odessiana” (239 tons) under Russian flag, registered in Odessa, and “Evangelistria” (182 tons) under Ionian flag, registered in Kefalonia, both built in Syros in 1847 and 1827 respectively. Also to the same owner is attributed the Greek bombard “Agios Spyridon” (149 tons), also built in Syros in 1862.⁸

Apart from G. Lykiardopoulos, also Nikolaos Lykiardopoulos chose Syros to build in 1866 the Greek brig “Agios Nikolaos” (124 tons) and the Greek bombard “Angeliki Lykiardopoulou” (217 tons) in 1875. Another important ship-owner was S. Lykiardopoulos, owner of the brig “Agios Gerasimos” (142 tons), a ship under Ionian -and later Russian- flag that was built in 1850 in La Seyne in France, and of the Greek schooner “Louiza”, built in Holland in 1843. We also find the Greek brig “Agios Spyridon” (179 tons), built in Galaxidi in 1862, which belongs to K.M. Lykiardopoulos; the Ionian brig “Panagia Spartia” (378 tons), built in 1840 in Galaţi, of D. Lykiardopoulos; and the Greek bombard “Panagis Vallianos” (261 tons), built in Syros in 1868, owned by Fotis Lykiardopoulos.⁹ Dimitrios Lykiardopoulos appears earlier, in Syros in 1829, as the owner and the captain of the Ionian schooner “Elisavet” (72 tons), bound for Smyrna, while less than a month later a Dimitrios Lykiardopoulos appears as the captain and owner of the brig “Agios Gerasimos” (267 tons) heading to Alexandria, which means this is probably a different person.¹⁰

The presence and the activity in seamanship of some members of the family during the 19th century is related with the immigration and the settlement of many people from the Ionian Islands, especially from Kefalonia and Ithaca, to the Black Sea and the Danube, and with their occupation with grain trade. The quest for alternative sources of grain imports for England, especially after the Crimean War, and the turn towards the Danube grain offered the possibility to the Ionian mariners, who were British subjects until 1864, to settle to the abovementioned areas and to control the greatest part of the transportation of grain for the rest of the 19th century.¹¹ Thus what the historian Gelina Charlaftis calls the Ionian network was created, a network which decisively aided, apart from the control of the grain of Danube, the transition from the merchant to modern ship-owning, but also the transition of the Greek ship-owners from sail to steam.¹²

Thus, we meet the family under the business names “Lykiardopoulos G.” and “Lykiardopoulos Brothers” settled at Mykolaiv of the Black Sea in 1882, where they were considered as among the most important exporters of grain along with the families of Mavros, Rodokanakis, Sevastopoulos etc.¹³

4. A new era: the transition to modern ship-owning

During the end of the 19th century, especially after 1895, many of the Greeks who had settled in Danube and the Black Sea started transferring their business in the international shipping centres, such as London and Piraeus. They would now operate under modern ship-owning standards and not just as major merchants oriented towards the trade of a certain type of cargo, such as grain.¹⁴ The Lykiardopoulos family was of course part of this movement, settling in Piraeus and in 1897 making their entry to shipping with their first steamship.¹⁵ In their effort to pass to steam power and shipping they were funded by members of the Ionian network and, more specifically, by the powerful Vallianos family, with which they were also relatives.¹⁶ Nikolaos Dion. Lykiardopoulos (1866-1963), who stood out from the rest of his family and made a great career in shipping, was financed by Athanasios Vallianos, the uncle of his wife; thanks to him he managed to form in a short time a substantial fleet of 6 steamships with a total capacity of 14,440 nrt.¹⁷ Nikolaos Lykiardopoulos opened a nautical branch in London in 1901, whereas the evolution of his shipping group was impressive also in the first decades of the 20th century. In 1938 the group of Nikolaos Lykiardopoulos possessed 36,285 nrt and was amongst the most important Greek shipping groups, like the families of Kouloukoudis from Kasos, Goulandris from Andros, Livanos from Chios, Nomikos from Santorini etc.¹⁸ In 1917, Nikolaos Lykiardopoulos actively participated to the foundation of the Union of the Greek Ship-owners, which he represented as a president constantly from 1950 until 1960.¹⁹

Half his fleet was lost during World War II. Thus, after the war the family was actively involved in the purchase of one of the seven tankers of T2 type which along with 100 Liberties were bought from the United States by many Greek ship-owners under the guarantee of the Greek state.²⁰ Nikolaos’ sons, Panagis (1893-1983) and Gerasimos (1895-1982), attended a great shipbuilding program in the 1950’s, whereas their company had extended outside Piraeus and London to New York. In the same decade Fotis, Panagis’ son, entered the business and the dynamic course of the company was expressed with a new shipbuilding activity which reached the number of 14 ships of 300,000 dwt, whereas in the beginning of the 1970’s the Neda Maritime Agency was created in Piraeus. The agency then acquired its first vlcc (tanker with a capacity ranging between 160,000 and 319.999 dwt) in 1975, whereas in the 1990’s it constructed the state-of-the-art super tanker “Arosa”. With the participation of Michael F. Lykiardopoulos, the younger generation, the company continues its nautical activity until today, a tradition which dates almost from the middle of the 18th century and has passed from every phase of Greek-owned shipping.²¹

5. The Lykiardopoulos family in Romania

Nonetheless, apart from the presence of the Lykiardopoulos family in southern Russia and Greece, their presence in the Danube, the main area of activity of the Ionian merchants and ship-owners during the 19th century, is equally noteworthy.

Already from 1837 we find a certain Ion Licherdopoulu (obviously Ioannis Lykiardopoulos) in the harbour of Brăila, of Greek nationality, a British subject and born in Kefalonia. Lykiardopoulos was one of the greatest merchants of the city.²²

Most of the information available considers the family branch which settled in Tulcea, another harbour of the Danube in the Ottoman province of Dobrudja. The founder of the family Panagiotis Lykiardopoulos from Kefallonia, along with his three sons, settled there in the beginning of the 1830’s, in the same period the harbour’s development had begun. Soon he became one of the most important merchants of the city, mainly trading grain. Members of the family were occupied with trade and the exploitation of land estate until the mid-war period.²³

It is worth mentioning that Panagiotis Lykiardopoulos’ descendants became relatives with members of other important families of Kefallonia living in Tulcea and Brăila. His granddaughter Aikaterini married Michail Pappadatos, an offspring of one of the city’s richest families, while Pigi, another granddaughter of his, married Dimitrios Millas, one of the most important flour industrialists of Romania, was was settled in Brăila.²⁴ Probably the last wedding helped the resettlement of members of the family in Brăila and the foundation, in 1912, of the “Lykiardopoulos and Valerianos” flour industry, which was the biggest in the whole Romania.²⁵