Κυριακή 20 Δεκεμβρίου 2020

Greek traders in Tunis in the 1850s

 

[Excerpt from the book ‘The Greek community in Tunisia 16th-21st cen’]

 

In the mid-19th century, the Greeks controlled much of the trade between Tunisia and the eastern Mediterranean. In the period 1835-1859, one of the biggest merchants of Tunis was Stamatellos Maltezopoulos, who every year, with his family, went with his sailboat to Gargalianoi and returned with a load of gifts for the bey and his ministers. George Siganakis and Apostolos Varinopoulos had the exclusive trade of tobacco, importing tobacco from Central Asia and the Balkans. Another wealthy merchant was Gregory Poulos, from Filiatra. He used to import grapes from the Peloponnese but mainly exploiting the vineyards of Soukra, Marsa and Ras-Djebel. He produced syrup, what the Arabs called sboula, which he bottled and sold. Therefore, together with other compatriots, he was involved in the trade of Turkish delights and mastic. Finally Theodoros Tsetses, George Kougioutopoulos, Dimitris Kouvopoulos and Vasilis Kougiteas were engaged in the trade of salt and tobacco.