About Stavros Niarchos
Stavros Spyros Niarchos (Greek: Σταύρος Σπύρος Νιάρχος, pronounced [ˈstavros ˈspiros ˈɲarxos]; 3 July 1909 – 15 April 1996) was a Greek billionaire shipping tycoon. Starting in 1952, he had the world's biggest supertankers built for his fleet. Propelled by both the Suez Crisis and increasing demand for oil, he and rival Aristotle Onassis became giants in global petroleum shipping. Niarchos was also a thoroughbred horse breeder and racer, several times the leading owner and number one on the French breed list. == Early life == Niarchos was born in Athens to a wealthy family, the son of Spyros Niarchos and his wife, Eugenie Koumantaros, a rich heiress, both born in the village of Vamvakou in the Peloponnese. His parents were naturalized United States Citizens who had owned a department store in Buffalo, New York, before returning to Greece, three months prior to his birth. They returned to Buffalo for a brief time, and the young Stavros attended the Nardin Academy grammar school. They returned, permanently, to Greece, and Stavros studied in the city's best private school, before starting university. He studied law at the University of Athens, after which he went to work for his maternal uncles in the Koumantaros family's grain business. During this period, he became involved in shipping, by convincing his uncles their firm would be more profitable, if it owned its own ships.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.