Background
He was born in Kerameies on the Greek island of Cefalonia, where he first became a sailor, before becoming part of the Greek diaspora.
He was born in Kerameies on the Greek island of Cefalonia, where he first became a sailor, before becoming part of the Greek diaspora.
Together they formed Vaglianos Brothers as grain-merchants and shippers, making good profits from the high prices of grain during the Crimean War. lieutenant is said that they sometimes bought the whole n wheat export crop, and were pioneers of exchange-traded wheat contracts. After the war ended, fellow Greeks had problems finding shippers for their cargoes from the Great Powers.
Vaglianos Brothers stepped in and offered them financing and transport on their own ships.
There was already a well-established Greek merchant community in, and they assisted his membership of the Baltic Exchange from where his business thrived. His operation based in avoided restrictive Greek commercial laws, enabling him to loan money to other Greeks for shipbuilding, and he was quoted as wishing for "the seas covered with a thick forest of Greek masts".
Vagliano Brothers continued operating after his death, and survived the loss of its traditional markets in and Turkey after World War I by concentrating on shipping and finance. In this way they helped develop Greek shipping dynasties.
However, he is probably best remembered in his native Greece for a donation that funded the National Library of Greece in Athens.
At his death he was enormously wealthy (his estate was valued at £3M) and he willed a considerable legacy to Kefalonia for charitable purposes.