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MEGALOCONOMOU BROS (Turkey, Smyrna b. 1902; 1914; 1914 / act: Athens) |
The Megaloconomou Brothers - Manolis (1902-2002), Costas (1914-1992), and Charalambos (1914-1999) - were born in Smyrna to a wealthy Greek family. At the Asia Minor Catastrophe in 1922 they found refuge in Athens, working initially at the 'Acropolis' newspaper. The well known photographic agency was founded by Manolis Megaloconomou, who handed it over to his brothers before the First World War in order to travel to the United States, from where he returned as representative of 'Philips' in Greece. The brothers Costas and Charalambos operated the agency as 'Megaloconomou Bros'. In the beginning of 1960 Charalambos gave up the agency exclusively to Costas, who changed the firm's name to 'Hellas Photo News'. When the latter died in 1992, this agency was bequeathed to Costas' daughter, Nikia Megaloconomou, who aims to turn it into a Foundation at its new premises in Athens, at 3 Karytsi Square.The Megaloconomou Brothers were veteran photographers, having lived through the most significant events of modern Greek history, such as the Convention of Ankara in 1930; the Venizelos - Atatourk Pact; and the Olympic Games of Berlin in 1936. It is worth noting that the Megaloconomou Brothers were personal friends of Eleftherios Venizelos and often spoke of his personality and photogeny. It is also worth remembering that the wife of Manolis was niece of Chrysostom, the Bishop of Smyrna. Tireless photoreporters, the Megaloconomou Brothers were awarded with an Honorary Degree by the Association for the Study of Greek History (the picture records from left: Manolis, Costas, and Charalambos).
[Megakles 08/2006]
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