Swedish-Norwegian Consul General
Giovanni d'Anastasi (Thessaloniki, ca. 1780 – Alexandria, 1860), also known as Giovanni Anastasi, Jean d'Anastasy, Ιωάννης or Γιάννης Αναστασίου (and variants), was a Greek merchant based in Alexandria (Egypt), active in the Mediterranean and beyond. From 1828 through 1857 he served as Consul General of the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway in Egypt. He is mainly known for the collections of Egyptian antiquities he sold to national museums of the Netherlands, France, and the United Kingdom.
Life and work.
Anastasi was the son of a Greek merchant from Damascus. His father made his fortune as a supplier of the French army in Egypt, then lost it when the French were defeated and forced to leave the country. During Muhammad Ali's early rule Anastasi established his merchant house in Alexandria and rebuilt the family business. He acquired the monopoly on trading grain produced in Muhammad Ali's dominion; Sweden, trading for iron, was a major buyer. Sweden and Norway appointed Anastasi their Consul General in Egypt, and Knight in the Order of Vasa, in 1828.
Anastasi's merchant house had branches (staffed by family members or representatives) in important Mediterranean ports, among which Alexandria, Livorno, Smyrna, Thessaloniki, and Malta. In Alexandria Anastasi was among the select Greek merchant families that dominated international trade as well as the Egyptian economy, the others being Casulli, Tossizza (or Tositsas) and Zizinia.
Anastasi acquired great riches and prestige, and was known as a benefactor. His duties as Swedish consul included serving the interests of Swedish nationals in Egypt, but according to his contemporaries he was generous in offering lodgings and practical support to travellers of all nationalities. Closely involved with Muhammad Ali's urban modernisations in Alexandria, he built an "okelle" (semi-public building serving as city mansion, warehouse, and guest house) on the "Place des Consuls". He reportedly spent great sums of money helping to finance the Greek War of Independence and liberating Greek prisoners of war. In Alexandria he co-financed the establishment of a Greek Orthodox hospital, school, and church building.
Egyptian antiquities.
An influential diplomat and merchant in Egypt, Anastasi ran a lucrative side business in Egyptian antiquities. He put together collections of high-quality objects, a process lasting several years, for sale to large-scale buyers in Western Europe. It is uncertain whether he himself organised excavations (as Henry Salt, Giovanni Belzoni, Bernardino Drovetti and others did); he did cooperate with or instructed Giovanni Piccinini (an Italian, in Thebes and Abydos), French-American Francis Barthow, and Austrian consul Giuseppe di Nizzoli (in Saqqara).
In 1826 Anastasi's first collection of antiquities was shipped to Livorno and stored in the warehouse of his agent Costantino Tossizza, where the objects could be viewed by prospective buyers or their representatives. Jean Emile Humbert, in Livorno on the orders of Caspar Reuvens, acquired the collection for the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, the Netherlands, in 1827.
Anastasi's second collection of antiquities was shipped in 1838, first to Livorno, then to London. The British Museum acquired a large number of objects at the auction of the collection in London. The third collection was auctioned in Paris in 1857; the Louvre, the British Museum, as well as private collectors acquired pieces.
In 1830 Anastasi was appointed corresponding member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He was an associate member of the "Egyptian Society" (Cairo, founded 1836) and an honorary member of the "Institut Égyptien" (Alexandria, founded 1859). Membership of these scientific societies was usually reserved for West-European members.
Anastasi had friendly relations with Egyptologists, among whom Jean-François Champollion and Karl Lepsius, offering them practical support and acting as a host during their expeditions in Egypt.
Family life.
As far as known, Anastasi remained unmarried and did not father any offspring. He adopted two girls who were left orphaned by the Missolonghi bloodbath in 1826. One daughter, named Marie or Mariethe, married Vincent Benedetti, Consul General of France; the other daughter married a French engineer or a Greek banker who later settled in Vienna. He also provided dowries for other female family members, enabling them to marry diplomats or merchants in his network. When Anastasi's brother in law Nikolaos Papafis died, he took the latter's son Ioannis Papafis under his wing.
Anastasi was buried in the first Greek-Orthodox cemetery of Alexandria; his tomb is in the shape of a square kiosk, inscribed "D'Anastasy", supported by four Doric columns, over an urn on a truncated column. The "Okelle Anastasi" in Alexandria was destroyed in the Bombardment of Alexandria in 1882.
Name.
The variants of Anastasi's name given by different writers are due to the various languages spoken in his network at the time. His first name (in Greek: fully Ιωάννης, abbreviated Γιάννης) can be given as Giannis (Italian-Greek), Giovanni or Gianni (Italian), Jean (French); the English equivalent is John. His family name Αναστασίου or Ανάσταση is given as (d')Anastasi or (d')Anastasy; the prefix "de" can also be interpreted as honorific ("comte d'Anastasy" because of his knighthood).
References.
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