Athanasios D. Matalas – Benefactor

Athanasios D. Matalas was born on January 30th, 1836, in the mountainous village of Karyes (Arachova) in Laconia. He came from the great Matalas family (with roots in Byzantium), and his father was Anagnostis P. Matalas, a fighter of 1821. He finished primary school in Karyes and then studied at the Greek School of Agios Petros Kynourias and Sparta (1848-1851). Then, he went to the School of Tripolis and then followed high school courses, where he got his high school diploma in 1856. During 1859-1863, he studied at the School of Law of the National University of Athens with professors Paparigopoulos, Kalligas, Soutsos, Rallis, Ioannou etc.

From 1862-1882, Athanasios Matalas worked diligently in the Greek Consular Service. Specifically, in 1862 he was appointed an employee at the Greek Consulate in Thessaloniki, the Consulate of Chania, the Consulate of Heraklion, Crete (1864) and the Consulate of Constantinople in 1866. In August 1866, he was appointed vice-consul in Sulina (present-day port of Romania), while in 1874, he was transferred to Philippopolis, where he ended his career in 1881. In fact, in the Russian-Turkish war (1877), he managed with his skilful diplomatic manoeuvres to prevent the entry of the Russian army into the city. Athanasios Matalas was honoured with the National Service Medal for his high morals and many years of action.

In parallel with his consular career, he also successfully dealt with commercial enterprises. During the time he served in Philippopolis, he succeeded in importing Greek yarns into Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia while trading in tobacco, timber and grain. He continued his commercial activities when he returned to Greece in 1882 and settled in Piraeus. In 1885, he was appointed Prefect of Argolidokorinthia, then Fthiotida-Fokida and Arcadia. Also, in 1899, he was elected Mayor of Oinountes, where he served his town for four years.

Athanasios Matalas died in 1922 at the age of 86, and his bones were placed at the entrance to the Agia Paraskevi Karyes grove. At the spot, there is also the tombstone with his bust on which the ancient saying is written:

"What a beautiful thing man is when he is a “man”."

Finally, the culmination of his benefactions is his Will (March 27th, 1919) by which the "Athanassios Matalas Foundation" (headquartered in Athens) was founded, from the resources of which money is given for the studies of the Matalas family, the children of the families of Karyes and the rest of the Laconian villages, while he also determined grants to the doctor, the vicar and the forest ranger of the Community of Karyes.