Demetrius Stefanovich Schilizzi

Demetrius Stefanovich Schilizzi (many spellings; Greek: Δημήτριος Στεφάνοβικ Σκυλίτσης; 1839–1893) was an Ottoman-born Greek banker in London and Paris, and later a steamship owner in Constantinople.[1] He was also Italian consul in Calcutta,[2] and a composer of music.

Demetrius Stefanovich Schilizzi, 1861 photograph

Life

Demetrius was born in Constantinople to Zannis Stefanovich Schilizzi (1806–1888), one of the Schilizzi merchant and shipping family originally from Chios,[1][lower-alpha 1] and Eleni Vouro.[3] The Schilizzi family was one of the trading dynasties that arose after the 1822 Chios massacre of the Greek War of Independence.[4] Demetrius' uncle J. S. Schilizzi (1805–1892) was in the Black Sea grain trade at Livorno, and founded a London branch in 1837.[1] Demetrius Schilizzi began his banking career in Paris.[5]

In 1871 Demetrius Schilizzi was living in Surrey Gardens, Hyde Park, London, with J. S. Schilizzi.[6] In 1873 the London firm Schilizzi & Co. was restructured, with J. S. Schilizzi retaining the name, and Demetrius and two other family members forming Schilizzi Brothers, in business at 25 Austin Friars.[7][8] He was also a director of the Imperial Bank, joining its board in 1873 on the death of Pantaleone Constantine Ralli.[9][10]

On his death Schilizzi left a reported £600,000 in securities, largely to a brother and nephew.[11] He was buried at the Şişli Greek Orthodox Cemetery.

Benefactor
The Greek Orthodox cathedral in Paris, commissioned by Schilizzi, internal view

The Greek Orthodox cathedral of St. Stephen in Rue Georges Bizet, Paris, designed by Joseph Auguste Émile Vaudremer and decorated by Charles Lameire and Ludwig Thiersch (iconostasis), and a home for the aged (present-day Foyer Jean Bosco) by the same architect in the Rue de Varize, were commissioned by Schlizzi, who did not live to see them completed.[12][13] Schilizzi's brother Paul oversaw and possibly funded the completion of the work.[14] Demetrius Schilizzi had earlier been on the Building Committee of St Sophia's Cathedral, London.[15]

Musical works

Schilizzi's works include Hélène, polka-mazurka, published in Paris by E. Girod, 1858, and Fantaisie élégante pour la flûte, published by Legouix, 1861.[16] The fifth fantasy in Jean Rémusat's Le Flûtiste romancier, published 1959, and the second number in Jules Demersseman's Six petites fantaisies faciles pour deux flûtes, Op. 28 bis, appear both to be using a melody from a romance composed by Schilizzi, titled Simplicité.[16]

Notes
  1. The modern Greek form of the surname is Skylitsis.

References
  1. Lange, Even; Olsson, Ulf; Fraser, Iain L. (2016). Centres and Peripheries in Banking: The Historical Development of Financial Markets. Routledge. p. 62. ISBN 9781351952934.
  2. Conte, Giampaolo (2020). "Unholy Alliances: Disentangling the Economic Relations between Italy, the Holy See and the Ottoman Empire". The International History Review. note 31. doi:10.1080/07075332.2020.1711799.
  3. Agelastos.com
  4. Yiangou, Anastasia; Heraclidou, Antigone (2017). Cyprus from Colonialism to the Present: Visions and Realities: Essays in Honour of Robert Holland. Routledge. p. 319. ISBN 9781351781565.
  5. Revue des établissements de bienfaisance et d'assistance (in French). Berger-Levrault. 1898. p. 62.
  6. The A B C Court Directory and Fashionable Guide for 1871: Including London and the Twelve Mile Radius. Effingham Wilson. 1871. p. 133.
  7. The London and China Telegraph: 1873. 1873. p. 142.
  8. The Banking Almanac. 1881. p. 511.
  9. The Bankers' Magazine. BPC (Bankers' Magazine) Limited. 1873. p. 679.
  10. Bankers' Magazine, Journal of the Money Market, and Commercial Digest. Richard Groombridge. 1827. p. 116.
  11. The Statist: A Journal of Practical Finance and Trade (153 ed.). Published at "The Statist" Office. 1894.
  12. "AGORHA, Vaudremer, Émile (6 Février 1829 – 7 Février 1914)".
  13. "Musée d'Orsay: Notice d'Oeuvre, Charles Lameire, Cathédrale grecque de la rue Bizet à Paris, coupe sur la diagonale et deux pendentifs développés". www.musee-orsay.fr.
  14. Palamas., Archimandrite G. (1895). "Πιστισ Και Πατρισ". Revue des Études Grecques. 8 (32): 391–398. doi:10.3406/reg.1895.5707.
  15. "History, The Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Divine Wisdom (Hagia Sophia)". www.stsophia.org.uk.
  16. Moore, Tom (2016). "J. Rémusat, Le Flûtiste Romancier: Romances Variées en forme de Fantaisies". Recerca Musical.
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