Kassotis family

The Kassotis family (also Kassiotis; ) is a Greek phanariot family which has been involved in shipping and politics since the 19th century
Originally the founder of the family Georgios Zisis was a sailor from the island of Kasos who fought in the Greek War of Independence under admiral Georgios Sachtouris. Shortly after the Battles of Samos and Gerontas in 1824 and with his family gone after the Kasos Massacre he decided to stay in the island of Icaria and marry a local woman while Sachtouris’s fleet was at the island for supplies. According to historian John Melas in 1864, the son of Georgios Zisis who had adopted the name Hajji Theodoros Kassotis, was appointed lord mayor of Icaria as the primate of the local elder council during the reign of Ottoman sultan Abdulaziz, representing the island’s Rum Millet. After the death of Hajji Theodoros his eldest son Georgios Kassotis inherited his titles along with the land of Perdiki until the unification of Icaria with the Kingdom of Greece in 1912. Hajji Theodoros and his two sons Georgios and Michael were all Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and were granted titles such as that of Megas Oikonomos.
After the Icarian union with Greece many members of the family moved to Athens and pursued careers in business and politics. A special branch of the family originates from a great-grandson of Hajji Theodoros who changed his name to Kassiotis. Georgios Kassiotis served as an officer of the Greek cavalry during the Second World War and later distinguished himself as a stockbroker and politician. The descendants of George Kassiotis include shipping magnates such as George and Athanasia Kassiotis. Members of the family have married into multiple other prominent families such as the Marinakis, Ypsilantis, and Lemos among others.

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