Basil Zaharoff

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Basil Zaharoff 1928

Basil Zaharoff ( Greek Βασίλης Ζαχάρωφ , * as Βασίλειος Ζαχαρίας (Vasílios Zacharías) , also Zacharias Basileos Zacharoff , probably October 6, 1849 in Muğla , Turkey ; † November 27, 1936 in Monaco ) was a Greek entrepreneur and March 27, 1936 in Monaco was the most important arms dealer in Europe.

Ascent

After attending school and receiving a scholarship, Basil Zaharoff worked in his father's textile trade, and later he took part in a chain of his uncle's textile shops. Both companies were not doing well, so Basil Zaharoff also worked as a tour guide, improving his language skills in English and French, and at times as a firefighter. He emigrated to London.

As a dealer for Thorsten Nordenfelt

In 1876 he settled in Athens. Through the mediation of Stephanos Skouloudis , Zaharoff was hired on October 14, 1877 as general agent for the armaments manufacturer Nordenfelt for the Balkans and Orient region. Numerous conflicts and disputes, such as the Greco-Turkish War or the Sino-Japanese War , led to successful business deals by Zaharoff for the Nordenfelt company.

The invention of the reloading machine gun, the Hiram Maxim , proved to be the greatest competition for Nordenfelt's rapid-fire rifles , but the two companies already merged in 1888. The company was later taken over by Vickers. The biggest project that Zaharoff got wrapped up in was the massive construction of an ammunition and weapons arsenal in Tsaritsyn . The corresponding contract was signed in 1913.

Thorsten Nordenfelt constructed an easily steerable submarine that he sold to Greece. Turkey viewed the signing as a threat and then ordered two submarines from Nordenfelt, Russia then viewed this purchase as a threat and also bought a submarine from Nordenfelt.

After the First World War

After the First World War, arms spending declined in most European countries and in the Middle East. Zaharoff dealt with shipbuilding and mechanical engineering. Alfred Nobel had sold the patents for dynamite to Basil Zaharoff , who began with the industrial manufacture of the explosives. Railway and road construction in particular benefited from this.

Zaharoff was convinced that steam-powered machines would be replaced by petroleum-powered ones. He helped the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (today: BP) to gain a foothold in the French market, and in return received transport orders for its oil tankers.

On the mediation of Louis II of Monaco , Zaharoff took over the then bankrupt Monte Carlo casino . After five years as an accountant at the casino in Monte Carlo - but where he never sat at a gaming table - he retired from active business. At the age of 75 he married on September 22, 1924 after 30 years of acquaintance Maria del Pilar Antonia Angela Patrocinio Simona de Muquiro y Beruete, widowed Duchesse de Villafranca des los Caballeros. They lived in Balincourt Castle and in Monte Carlo. His wife had met Zaharoff during their honeymoon with her first husband, the Spanish nobleman and member of the royal family, Francisco María de Borbón , on the Orient Express , one of Zaharoff's preferred modes of transport. Her first husband, who was mentally ill, attacked and injured her during the train ride, after which she brought Zaharoff to safety. Francisco María de Borbón was finally permanently housed in a sanatorium. In the Catholic Spanish royal family, a divorce was out of the question, so that Zaharoff could only marry his lover after the death of Francisco María de Borbón in 1923. The three daughters are very likely to have Zaharoff as their father, who finally adopted the two still living daughters after the death of his wife.

capital

Zaharoff was one of the richest people of his time. His assets included minority and majority stakes in many heavy industry operations , such as mechanical engineering companies and shipyards, including Vickers , Krupp and Škoda .

Patronage

Insiders called Zaharoff because of his foundation activities for the Red Cross and an unemployment fund, the "red Basil Zaharoff".

He donated much of his fortune to charity over the course of his life, including:

  • Foundation of an aviation chair in Nantes, 1909
  • Foundation of 200,000 francs for the construction of a military hospital in Biarritz, France, in 1914.
  • Foundation of a chair for aerodynamics in Paris (cost: 700,000 francs)
  • Initiative and foundation of the Institut Pasteur à Athènes , 1919
  • Help for earthquake victims and reconstruction of the city of Corinth
  • Foundation of a building for the Greek Embassy in Paris
  • Foundation of a course in aviation at the University of St. Petersburg
  • Foundation of a professorship in French literature at Oxford University and a professorship in English literature at the Sorbonne.
  • Donation of half a billion gold francs to the Greek state for the realization of the Megali Idea .

Honors (selection)

reception

Zaharoff avoided the public and never had himself photographed during his time as an entrepreneur. Allegedly he should even have employed doppelgangers. He had the reputation of being "the mystery man of Europe".

As a trader and later a manufacturer, he was never on the side of just one war party; In case of doubt, contrary to personal convictions, he also supplied the other party. As a friend of Eleftherios Venizelos , he supported his Megali Idea , which did not prevent him from delivering weapons to Ataturk's armed forces. His delivery to both warring parties is repeatedly the subject of critical documentation.

In the 1930s, publications appeared that portrayed Zaharoff as a warmonger. It was claimed that Basil Zaharoff was actually a Lithuanian Jew named Manel Sahar, and a source from 1940 claimed that he was a Levantine Jew named Zachariou. “In this context, the author also exposes the criminal role played by the Jew Sir Basil Zaharoff in personal revenge against the Berlin-Rome axis”, wrote Bernhard Payr in 1942. Carl von Ossietzky described Zaharoff as a “Greek adventurer” from the area by David Lloyd George .

The person of Zaharoff found its way into artistic works several times. George Bernard Shaw chose Zaharoff as a model for the unscrupulous arms manufacturer Andrew Undershaft in his play Major Barbara , published in 1905 and filmed in 1940 . Under the name Basil Bazaroff, Zaharoff appears in Hergé's comic book Der Arumbaya-Fetisch , published from 1935, as an arms dealer and opponent of Tim , who tries to sell his weapons to the two warring states "San Theodoros" and "Nuevo-Rico". In Harald Braun's 1952 film Herz der Welt , he is portrayed as an opponent of Bertha von Suttner , played by Werner Hinz . Friedrich Dürrenmatt 's tragic comedy The Visit of the Old Lady , premiered in 1956, alludes to Zaharoff with the character of the dubious benefactress “Claire Zachanassian”. The name Zachanassian comes from the contraction of Zacharoff (Dürrenmatt refers to this spelling), Onassis and Gulbenkian . In 1969 Wolfgang Schleif made the ZDF television film Sir Basil Zaharoff - Makler des Todes (script: Michael Mansfeld ; actors: Antje Weisgerber and Richard Münch ). In the Turkish detective series Filinta (director: Kudret Sabanci), which appeared on TRT 1 in 2015 , Zaharoff is shown as an antagonist under the name "Boris Zaharyas" (actor: Serhat Tutumluer), who can be seen as a clever strategist of organized crime : From his seat in From Istanbul in the 19th century he carries out illegal arms deals or sells oil cards to interested parties from third countries.

literature

  • Dimitri Kitsikis : Propagande et pressions en politique internationale. La Grèce et ses revendications à la Conférence de la Paix, 1919-1920 . Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, 1963, 537 pages (thèse en Sorbonne).
  • Richard Lewinsohn : The man in the dark - the life story of Sir Basil Zaharoff, the "mysterious European". (Original title: The career of Sir Basil Zaharoff ) Fischer , Berlin 1929. Current edition (reprint): The Mystery Man of Europe Sir Basil Zaharoff , Kessinger Publishing, Whitefish, MT 2004, ISBN 978-1-4179-1689-4 (English ).
  • Peter Meyler: Secret about Zaharoff . Purchase, Vienna 1948.
  • Robert Neumann : Sir Basil Zaharoff, the king of arms. Library of Contemporary Works, Zurich 1934, K. Desch, Munich 1951; New edition with a foreword by Anne Maximiliane Jäger-Gogoll and Johanes Maria Becker, Edition Bottle Post / Wunderkammer, Frankfurt am Main 2011, ISBN 978-3-941245-07-5 .
  • Jörg Nimmergut : The procedure. The background to the awarding of the Legion of Honor from Knight to Grand Cross to Basil Zaharoff, the most mysterious man in Europe . In: Orders and Medals. The magazine for friends of phaleristics, publisher: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ordenskunde , issue 124, 21st year, Gäufelden 2019. ISSN 1438-3772.
  • Walter Persich: Zaharoff, the demon of Europe . [Paperboard] Schaffer, Berlin [1940] (a propaganda book).
  • George Tallas, Anthony Stephen: Peddler of Wars : Sir Basil Zaharoff Story, AuthorHouse 2007, ISBN 978-1-4259-9140-1 (English)

Web links

Commons : Basil Zaharoff  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Richard Lewinsohn, The Man in the Dark: the life story of Sir Basil Zaharoff, the “mysterious European” , Berlin 1929, p. 113
  2. ↑ Bárbara Meyer: Social Implications of West German Post-War Films , 1964, p. 44
  3. ^ Christian Reder (editor). Gray Danube, Black Sea: Vienna, Sulina, Odessa, Yalta, Istanbul, p. 135
  4. ^ Anthony Stephen, George Tallas: Peddler of Wars: Sir Basil Zaharoff Story, p. 185
  5. ↑ Richard Lewinsohn, The Man in the Dark: the life story of Sir Basil Zaharoff the "mysterious European" , Berlin 1929, p. 218
  6. ^ EH Cookridge: Orient Express Adventure. Heyne, Munich 1983, ISBN 3-453-01768-4 , pp. 130 ff.
  7. ↑ Alice Rühle-Gerstel: Der Umbruch or Hanna and Freedom , Fish 1984, p. 283
  8. ^ Hans Manfred Bock, Ilja Mieck: Berlin-Paris (1900–1933): Places of Encounter , 2005, p. 289
  9. ↑ Otto Lehmann-Russbüldt: War for Profits , 1930, p. 55
  10. ^ Richard Lewinsohn: The man behind the scenes: the career of Sir Basil Zaharoff
  11. ^ Hans Hallmann: New Greece History 1820-1948. H. Bouvier and Co., Bonn 1949, p. 132
  12. ↑ The New Day Book - Volume 4, Issues 27-52 - Page 1166
  13. ↑ The eighth crusade. Unpublished revelations by a British staff officer (translated from English). P. 25.
  14. ↑ Bernhard Payr: Phoenix or Ashes ?: France's intellectual struggle after the collapse
  15. ↑ Carl von Ossietzky: Die Neue Weltbühne, No. 30, 16-30 - p. 611
  16. ^ Christian Tenbrock: Merchant of death . In: Die Zeit , December 4, 2003
  17. ^ Friedrich Dürrenmatt: The visit of the old lady. Tragic Comedy, Zurich: Diogenes 1998, p. 141.
personal data
SURNAME Zaharoff, Basil
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Zacharias, Basil
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Greek arms dealer and owner of the Monte Carlo casino
DATE OF BIRTH October 6, 1849
PLACE OF BIRTH Muğla
DATE OF DEATH November 27, 1936
Place of death Monaco