Ioannis F. Kostopoulos–Businessman, Banker
Ioannis F. Kostopoulos was born in 1851 in Sperchogia, Messenia, and from childhood, he worked in the cloth trade. In 1879, he settled in Kalamata, where he opened his own shop under the name "Ioannis F. Kostopoulos". His goods were initially supplied from the commercial centre of Syros and then directly from abroad, resulting in his store becoming a significant trading house. Naturally, he soon acquired a large fortune, gaining the respect of the people of Kalamata.
Ioannis Kostopoulos was a commissioner at the church of Agios Ioannis Prodromos, as his house on Aristomenouis Street (opposite the REX hotel) belonged to this parish. He married Efstathia Stathakos, with whom he had six children.
Alongside the trading house, he also founded a small brokerage office (in the offices of today's Alpha Bank). When the Bank of Grigorios Empedocles (renamed Emporiki Bank) established a branch in Kalamata, Kostopoulos was offered to take over the management, but he did not accept. Instead, he preferred to work with the Loverdos’ Laiki Bank as its correspondent. In addition, he implemented the plan to beautify and exploit the thermal springs of Caiaphas, leasing the springs from the state for 20 years.
In 1916, Ioannis Kostopoulos was widely known as the "most important economic factor in Messenia". Then, he turned his brokerage office into a bank under the name "I.F. Kostopoulou Bank", with himself as director and Laiki Bank as a limited partner. In 1918, in collaboration with his children, the limited liability company Kalamon Bank was founded, the forerunner of the later Emporiki-Pisteos Bank and today's Alpha Bank. Ioannis F. Kostopoulos died in Kalamata in March 1918, at the age of 67.
In 1979, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of Alpha Bank, the "Ioannis F. Kostopoulos Foundation" was established, based in Athens, to strengthen and promote the Greek culture of letters and arts inside and outside the Greek territory. The idea of creating this non-profit institution was the last surviving son of Kostopoulos and then President of the bank, Spyros I. Kostopoulos. Also, it is worth noting that in 1972, the bank established the new corporate mark with its emblem, one of the first coins minted in Greece, as well as the letter "K" since it was created in the city of Kalamata.