His resistance action – His proverbial rant about Dimitris Saravakos when he survived a terrorist attack on November 17 – Friendship with the Kennedy family
For many people, Vardis Vardinogiannis, who passed away today at the age of 91, was a businessman with many activities in shipbuilding, mass media and energy. But Vardis Vardinogiannis was not limited to his business activity, and was not defined only by it. With resistance action when the Junta’s “arvyla” put Greece in plaster, philanthropist together with his late wife Marianna, visionary, loved by relatives, friends, partners and also ordinary workers of his businesses. The “other Vardinogiannis” was a familiar person.
Vardis Vardinogiannis (Diocese of Rethymnon, December 4, 1933 – Athens, November 12, 2024) was a Greek oil magnate and shipowner. Being the head of the Vardinogiannis Group, he was one of the strongest and most influential factors in the Greek economy, with his fortune valued at 2.7 billion. dollars (in 2024). According to Lloyd’s it was included in the list of strong players in the world fleet.
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He was born on December 4, 1933 in the Diocese of Rethymno and was the son of Ioannis Vardinogiannis and Chrysis Theodoroulakis, the fifth of eight children in the family: Pavlos (1925-1984), Amalia (1927-2016), Sifis (1929-2002), Nikos (1931-1973) and George (1936), Theodoros (1942-1996) and Eleni (1946).
He graduated in 1955 from the Naval Cadet School and followed a career as an officer in the Navy (then the Royal Navy), like his brother, Nikos. He was forcibly demobilized in July 1967 by the dictatorial regime of April 21 with the rank of admiral, due to his resistance action, and was exiled to Amorgos.
He was initiated into the anti-dictatorship movement of the Navy and helped to ensure the supply of ships in the event of a movement. He became involved in his brother’s businesses, and from 1972 took over their management after his untimely death.
From 1989, he also started dealing with the Mass Media, founding the television stations Mega (which he owned until 2019) and Star, which he owned until today, while since 2018 he also owned the radio and television operator Alpha. He was married to Marianna Vardinogianni (née Bournakis) from 1961 until her death in 2023, and they had five children: Giannis (1962), Christianna (1964), George (1967), Nikos (1974) and Vardianna (1976). He and his wife developed a rich philanthropic activity.
Meeting and marrying Marianna Vardinogiannis
He met his wife Marianna Vardinogianni when she was still a student at a relative’s house in Piraeus.
Mutual love at first sight, reports cretapost. After graduating from High School, Marianna left for America to study Economics at the University of Denver in Colorado.
He followed Vardis Vardinogiannis, who at the same time as a Navy Ensign had been sent by the Corps to Hawaii and California on a mission to receive some of the repaired old US warships, which were being granted to Greece, as part of US military aid .
The two corresponded incessantly abroad, but with the shared feeling of being close, even though they were sometimes up to 5,500 kilometers apart. They were made for each other, and each followed in the other’s footsteps. As it is said, when he sailed across the Atlantic and returned with the received warship to the naval station of Salamis, the officer almost at the same time flew back to Greece.
The same back-and-forth was repeated when the naval officer was temporarily transferred for further training at the naval base in Portsmouth, England. She went with him. There he tried to learn Art History, which he loved so much as a child.
They got married in May 1961, with Christos Lambrakis, a peer and acquaintance of Vardis from their joint military service, as best man at the wedding ceremony. The couple started their new life together in Marianna’s “mansion” on Pipinou Street, at the height of Patision, in Kypseli. This apartment would prove to be a lucky one. There they gave birth to their first three children, before moving.
The first house, which housed their initial family dreams, was marked for the loan that Vardis Vardinogiannis took, so that he could start with his older brother, Nikos, their first business venture: the marine fuel filling station in Kalous Limenes, in the south beaches of the prefecture of Heraklion.
Vardinogianni Group
Since 1972, Vardis Vardinogiannis has successfully taken over the fortunes of one of the largest Greek business groups, having created an international range of activities from the oil, shipbuilding, banking and hotel sectors as well as the mass media. The most important of these are Motor Oil, Optima bank, Vegas Oil and Gas (Egypt), Avin Oil, Piraeus Bank, ANEK Lines, Ellaktor, Star Channel, Alpha TV, NJV Athens Plaza, AVE Group of Companies, Odeon, etc. The flagship of the group is considered to be the Motor Oil Hellas refineries unit.
Attempted murder
In November 1990, an attack was carried out with three rockets against him, by the terrorist organization 17 November. The rockets hit the car he was riding in, but Vardinogiannis was saved thanks to the very strong armor of the vehicle. He himself, in a conversation he had immediately afterwards with his close friend Antonis Livanis (then director of Andreas Papandreou’s political office) said with proverbial calm and subtle humor: “Saravakos took a penalty kick and hit the crossbar…”.
Friendship with the Kennedy family
Vardinogiannis and his wife, Marianna, were among the founders of Robert Kennedy’s leadership council along with Bill Clinton and other world leaders. The wedding of Rory Kennedy, daughter of Robert and Ethel Kennedy to Mark Bailey, was celebrated at the Vardinogiannis mansion in Ekali. Even Rory’s older sister Courtney Kennedy’s wedding to Irishman Paul Hill in 1993 was celebrated on Vardis Vardinogiannis’ yacht Varmar.
Check out this Instagram post.
Source: Skai
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