User:DimosOtiro/sandbox/Georg Christian Gropius

Georg Christian Gropius (German: Georg Christian Gropius, March 20, 1776, Rebecca - November 26, 1850, Athens) was a German businessman, archaeologist and diplomat.

Biography
Georg Christian Gropius was the eighth of the ten children of Pastor Georg Ludwig Siegfried Gropius (German: Georg Ludwig Siegfried Gropius (1726-1784), originally from the Rebecca region of Lower Saxony.

In 1796/97 in Berlin by a mother's uncle, Eberhard Siegfried Henne (German: Eberhard Siegfried Henne) learnt how to design and make engravings. Then, he travelled to Herisau, Switzerland with Ludwig Friedrich brothers (German: Ludwig Friedl and Kaud) and Franz Ludwig Catel and then to Paris alone, where he worked from 1797 to 1801 as Wilhelm von Humboldt's children's tutor (German: Wilhelm von Humboldt)

In 1802/03 he was an illustrator and fellow traveler of Jacob Ludwig Salomon Bartholdy (German: Jakob Ludwig Salomon Bartholdy) in Italy, Asia Minor and Greece. From 1803 Gropius lived permanently in Greece and from 1810 he was deputy consul of Great Britain

From 1810 to 1814 Gropius participated in the archeological excavations in Aegina in the temple of Aphaia and Epicurean Apollo in Vasses of Figalia.

Gropius supported the Greek revolution of 1821 against the Ottoman Empire. He acquired a large fortune from oil extraction and his own ships. From his property he provided land in Athens for the construction of ministries as well as the royal palace (today's Parliament building).

In 1836 Gropius was awarded the gold medal of the Greek Order of the Savior.