Georgios N. Petrolekas - Benefactor
Georgios N. Petrolekas was born in 1855 in the village of Charakas in Laconia - one of the most beautiful villages in the Municipality of Zarakas. At a very young age, he left for Hydra, where he worked as an employee in a textile and haberdashery shop. After a few years, he opened his own convenience store and, at the same time, participated with a small percentage in a sponge business. When these works did not yield, he left the island of Hydra and went to America, where he settled in Florida as a sponge merchant. There he shortened his surname from Petrolekas to "Lekas". This trade was the prelude to his primary business as the importer of Greek products, which were sought after by Greek immigrants, Italians and Balkans. He married Aikaterini Hourvalis from Leonidio (Poulithra), but they did not have children.
In 1892, Georgios Petrolekas founded, together with his cousin Georgios Drivas (from Reichea Laconia), the company "LEKAS & DRIVAS" ("Lekas and Drivas Import/Export Company"). Returning to Piraeus, he took over the management of the company's office, on 40, Filonos Street. Soon he opened two large olive presses and oil tanks in Ermioni and olive warehouses in Amfissa, Volos and Kalamata. He also built various cheese factories in Arcadia, Epirus, Albania, Serbia and Sardinia, Italy (for the production of Greek and Italian (cheeses). Petrolekas also imported other products, such as drinks, cognac, figs, tarama (fish roe), etc. Alongside his commercial activities, the two partners (Petrolekas-Drivas) invested in real estate and American shares.
Georgios N. Petrolekas died on May 19th, 1928, just two months after Georgios Drivas (who died on March 9th of the same year). While he was alive, he offered 30,000 drachmas for the construction of the current church of the Three Brigades in his birthplace. At the same time, in his will, he left various sums to Piraeus institutions (Zanneio Orphanage, Zanneio Hospital) and various relatives. Finally, he left the sum of 1,000,000 drachmas for the paving of "Stavros" street in Charakas and bequeathed the Charakas Community his shops on Iroon Polytechniou and Iakovos Dragatsis streets in Piraeus.