Byron Nicholas Georgiadis (1927–2010) was a Kenyan lawyer and criminal defence advocate based in Nairobi. He was admitted as an advocate in Kenya in 1953, became a partner of Kaplan & Stratton, and was known for high-profile criminal and corruption cases.
Background
Byron Nicholas Georgiadis was born on 27 April 1927 in Tabora, in the Tanganyika Territory. From 1922 the territory was held by the United Kingdom under a League of Nations mandate, which required the British administration to safeguard the interests of the local population while promoting the territory's economic development. Tabora lay in central Tanganyika.
His family had left Greece for Africa after the 1922 war with Turkey. Its move was part of the wider migration of Greek families to the British territories of East Africa in the years that followed the war, and it formed the background to his life in the region. He completed his secondary schooling in Nairobi, in the British colony of Kenya, before going to Oxford.
In the years after the Second World War, Georgiadis built his reputation in Kenya's legal profession. Contemporary press accounts recorded his skill in criminal defence, and he became one of the best-known advocates in the country.
Education
He was educated at Prince of Wales School in Nairobi from 1940 to 1945, a period that coincided with the Second World War, when Kenya was a British colony contributing to the Allied war effort.
He then studied at Brasenose College, Oxford, from 1946 to 1950 and received a Master of Arts. Brasenose is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford and was founded in 1509. Oxford training gave him the English legal and academic background that many Kenyan lawyers of his generation shared.
After Oxford, Georgiadis decided to open his own chambers in Kenya, where he pursued corruption cases and defended clients in criminal proceedings. He was called to the bar by the Inner Temple in 1951. The Inner Temple is one of the four Inns of Court, the professional bodies that call barristers to the bar in England and Wales. He was admitted as an advocate in Kenya in 1953, a qualification that allowed him to appear before the Kenyan courts.
He later became a partner of Kaplan & Stratton. The firm dates its establishment to 1938 and is regarded as one of Kenya's oldest law firms and one of the leading firms in the East African region. Kenya's commercial laws drew heavily on English and Commonwealth legal traditions, and the firm's English-trained lawyers were well placed to advise on them.
His practice included several high-profile cases. He took up the Julie Ward murder case and the initial Goldenberg case against former Treasury Permanent Secretary Wilfred Karuga Koinange. His success in defending a client charged with murder led the press to describe him as the "silver-maned Perry Mason of East Africa."
Achievements
Successfully defended a client charged with murder in Kenya, after which the press began to refer to him as the "silver-maned Perry Mason of East Africa."
Took up high-profile cases in Kenya, including the Julie Ward murder case and the initial Goldenberg case against former Treasury Permanent Secretary Wilfred Karuga Koinange.
Pursued corruption cases after opening his own chambers in Kenya, a specialised area of practice in the country's courts.
Membership
Georgiadis was a member of the Law Society of Kenya, the country's premier bar association, whose membership comprises all practising advocates. The society advises the legal profession, the government and the public on the administration of justice, and under Kenyan law a person must be a member of it to practise as an advocate of the High Court.
He also took part in sporting and school life in Kenya. He served as president of the Kenya European Hockey Association and was a member of the board of governors of Prince of Wales School.
Law Society of Kenya
,
Kenya
President
Kenya European Hockey Association
,
Kenya
Member of the Board of Governors
Prince of Wales School
,
Kenya
Connections
Georgiadis married Mary Diana Kendall in Kensington in 1954. She was born in 1912.
Wife:
Mary Diana Kendall
Born in 1912; the marriage took place in Kensington in 1954.
References
Europeans in East Africa database
Database entry recording his birth in Tabora and death in Nairobi, his schooling at Prince of Wales School and Brasenose College, Oxford, his marriage in 1954, and his work as a lawyer with Kaplan & Stratton.
The Daily Telegraph
Obituary published on 10 February 2010, describing his legal career in Kenya after his Oxford studies and his standing as a leading member of Kenya's legal establishment.
2010
Makers of a Nation: Byron Georgiadis
DVD documentary in the Makers of a Nation series, produced by Nation Media Group and Kenya History & Biographies Co. Ltd., on the life and career of Byron Georgiadis as one of Kenya's best-known criminal defence lawyers.
