Ioannis Pangas or Bangas , was a Greek

Greeks

The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

 benefactor and merchant from Ottoman Korce

Korçë

Korçë is a city in southeastern Albania and the capital of the Korçë District. It has a population of around 105,000 people , making it the sixth largest city in Albania...

, in modern Albania

Albania

Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

. His father Georgios Pangas was also a notable merchant and philanthropist.

Because of his business, he initially moved to Thebes

Thebes, Greece

Thebes is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. It played an important role in Greek myth, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and others...

 and then to Chalkis. Soon, in order to expand his professional activities, he moved to Cairo

Cairo

Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...

 (Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

) and then Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

. At a mature age he settled in Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

. Because of his character and hard working nature he managed to make a fortune.

At 1889-88 offered a significant amount of money for the maintenance and expansion of the Greek schools in his home city Korce, He also found there new libraries and offered with personal costs a huge amount of educational material. He became that way one of the main contributors of the Lasson fund, a community fund that supported the fundation and support of Greek cultural institutions in Korce .

While living in Athens, he build a luxurious mansion at the center of the Greek capital (on Omonoia square

Omonoia Square

Omonoia Square is a central square in Athens. It marks the northern corner of the downtown area defined by the city plans of the 19th century, and is one of the city's principal traffic hubs...

- today hotel Alexander the Great). Αt 16 August 1889, Ioannis Pagkas offered to the Greek state all his possessions for philanthropic objectives. He retained only 1.000 drachmas per month in order to lead a dissent life. This form of benefaction was really unique, to offer all the belongings when living and not after life. Greek Prime minister, Charilaos Trikoupis

Charilaos Trikoupis

Charilaos Trikoupis was a Greek politician who served as a Prime Minister of Greece seven times from 1875 until 1895....

, expressed the significance of such philanthropic acts.

Pagkas also offered to the Greek state his manor at Omonoia square, designed by the German architect Ernst Ziller

Ernst Ziller

Ernst Moritz Theodor Ziller was a Saxon architect who later became a Greek national, and in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was a major designer of royal and municipal buildings in Athens, Patras and other Greek cities.- Buildings :* Presidential Mansion, Athens* National Theatre of...

, and one more mansion which is named Bangeion after him.

Sources

• Epirus, 4000 years of Greek history and civilization. M. V. Sakellariou. Ekdotike Athenon, 1997. ISBN 9602133716.
• His life and work.
• Hotel Alexander the Great.
• Baggeion.
• Epirot benefactors