(Excerpt from the book ‘The Greek community in Tanzania’)
Arnaoutoglou left Smyrna and immigrated to Tanganyika in 1906. He worked in the
railways construction and when the project was implemented, he became a trader.
During the First World War, while he was trading near the borders with the
Portuguese East Africa (later Mozambique), he was arrested by the Germans and
spent the rest of the war in prison. After the war, he was released, but being
penniless, he went back to Tanzania with the help of a few local people. Later
he was involved in the sisal industry and by the 1950s, Arnaoutoglou was one of
the wealthiest people in Tanzania.
George Arnaoutoglou was the first Consul of Greek origin and remained in his position for almost two decades (1948-1967). Apart from the donations to the Greek community, he offered £20,000 for the construction of a school and a hospital for the local population. Therefore, he donated one of the buildings he owned in Dar es Salaam to the local parliament.
