Ioannis Fostiropoulos and his wife Chrysanna. Date, location: unkown. Source
Ioannis Fostiropoulos, aka Hadji-Yangos was born in 1860 in the Livath district of Imera (today Olucak) in the Gümüşhane province of Pontus. The Fostiropoulos family were very well known throughout the region. Fostiropoulos relocated to Trabzon in 1880 where he opened a commercial lending business as well as a commercial trading firm. His experience in the field of finance was the catalyst for the eventual opening of the Fostiropoulos Brothers Bank by his two sons.
The emblem of the Fostiropoulos Brothers Bank in Trabzon. The emblem contains a beehive as well as five bees, each representing the five sons of Ioannis Fostiropoulos.
Ioannis travelled to the Holy Lands, hence the prefix "hadji" in his name. Before his pilgrimage, Fostiropoulos was married to his first wife with whom he had three children; Efthymia, Eleni and George. After the passing of his first wife at a young age, Fostiropoulos married Chrysanthe (Chrysanna) with whom he had five children; four boys and a girl. Of the boys, Kosta would go on to work with his half-brother George at the Fostiropoulos Brothers Bank in Trabzon. His other sons were Socrates who took over a bank in Batum, Michael and Diomedes.
Workers from the bank of the Fostiropoulos brothers on an excursion. Date, unknown.
Each year, on the feast day of Saint Ioannis (John), Fostiropoulos would return to his hometown of Imera and host a big aristocratic function with an abundance of food, wine and raki. Five or six lambs would be slaughtered and roasted on a spit. He would also invite his workers, friends from Trabzon as well as his close friends from Imera.
Kostas and Sofia Fostiropoulos, Trabzon 1910. Source: e-ptolemeos.gr
In 1925, following the compulsory exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey, Fostiropoulos and his wife Chrysanna along with their son Diomedes, settled in Anatolico in the Ptolemaida region of Greece.
A more recent photo of the Fostoropoulos Brothers Bank in Trabzon being used as a post office. Source: e-ptolemeos.gr
Based on article at kromni,blogspot.com