Michael Vasileiou was a 19th century 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....

 merchant and benefactor. He was born in Ottoman

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 occupied Gjirokastër

Gjirokastër

Gjirokastër is a city in southern Albania with a population of 43,000. Lying in the historical region of Epirus, it is the capital of both the Gjirokastër District and the larger Gjirokastër County...

, 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...

.

He was the brother of Alexandros Vasileiou

Alexandros Vasileiou

Alexandros Vasileiou was a Greek merchant and scholar. He was born in Ottoman occupied Gjirokastër, in modern Albania.He was one of many Greek merchants in the 18th-19th centuries that were involved in the fields of education and literature. A. Vasileiou played an essential role in the Greek...

, merchant, scholar and student of Adamantios Korais

Adamantios Korais

Adamantios Korais or Coraïs was a humanist scholar credited with laying the foundations of Modern Greek literature and a major figure in the Greek Enlightenment. His activities paved the way for the Greek War of Independence and emergence of a purified form of the Greek language, known as...

, a major figure of the Greek Enlightenment movement. Michael Vasileiou ran his trade business in Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

 (modern Istambul), where he lived most of his life and succeeded in becoming one of the most successful businessmen among the members of the Greek community

Ottoman Greeks

Ottoman Greeks were ethnic Greeks who lived in the Ottoman Empire , the Republic of Turkey's predecessor...

 in the Ottoman capital.

He supported financially several issues of the Hermes o Logios

Hermes o Logios

Hermes o Logios, also known as Logios Ermis was a Greek periodical printed in Vienna, Austria, from 1811 to 1821. It is regarded as the most significant and longest running periodical of the period prior to the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence, containing contributions by key scholars and...

literary newspaper, published in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

as well the Greek translation of the French codex for merchants .

Two of his daughters (Efrosyni and Smaragda) married members of the Mellas family, which was also financially strong in the local Greek community of that time.