The Greek millionaire who wanted to become Hungarian and a crater bears his name on the Moon

Only the Habsburgs and the Catholic church was wealthier than his family. However, the pompous Hungarian aristocrats did not accept him as a Hungarian even though he was one of the biggest financial supporters of such important national causes like the building of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences or the National Theatre.

A Hungarian patriot

Simon Sinas was born on August 15, 1810, in Vienna, in a Greek family originating from Moscopole, today Southern Albania. His family ran away from the Ottomans to Serbia and then moved to Austria where they collected a huge fortune by trading with the Ottoman Empire. Allegedly, his grandfather traded with the pasha of Macedonia; however, he was executed, and his money remained in the hands of the clever Greek. Anyway, he renounced his Ottoman citizenship at the beginning of the 19th century and became one of the biggest Austrian bank owners as powerful as the Rothschilds.

Simon inherited an 80 million forints worth fortune from his father; estates in Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Greece, Italy, and the Romanian principalities. Because of his incredible wealth, he became legendary already in his lifetime, but

he only wanted to become a “good Hungarian”

no matter the cost because he regarded himself as an enlightened Hungarian patriot.

Therefore, he supported many national causes, for example, he donated 80 thousand forints in 1858 to the building of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences which is 20 thousand more than what István Széchenyi, the “greatest Hungarian” promised in 1825. However, he supported the building of the National Theatre, the National Institution for the Blind, the National Casino or a basilica in Budapest, as well. Furthermore, he gave money for river regulation, the development of agriculture and the education; he built schools, hospitals, and orphanages in Hungary. He even supported the printing of important Hungarian economy newspapers in the 50s and 60s.