Whilst I have struggled to find much detail about Konstantinos Paspatis his place in the city’s history is important as possibly our first Liverpool-born Olympic medallist.
He was born in Liverpool on 5th June 1878, the son of Nicholas George Papspatis, and his French-born wife Harriet. They had come to Liverpool as merchants and amassed a considerable fortune, Nicholas’ estate when he died in 1895 being £67,000 (about £12 million in 2023). The family lived for many years at ‘Hellas House’, 3 Devonshire Road L8 (now demolished).
Konstantinos represented Greece at the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1898 as a tennis player. He won a bronze medal in the singles tournament. In the first round, he defeated Geeorge S Robertson (Great Britain). His second round opponent was fellow Greek Aristidis Akratopoulus whom Paspatis defeated as well. He met eventual gold medallist John Pius Boland in the semi-finals, however, and was defeated. Since there was no playoff for third place, Paspatis and Momcsillo Tapavicza (Hungary) are considered to share third. In the doubles , Paspatis and partner Evangelos Rallis were defeated in the first round by Dionysisu Kasdaglis and Demetrios Petrokokkinos.
He died in Athens on 1st July 1903 aged just 25.
Konstantinos Paspatis' death certificate.
Ther Wikipedia entry is about all I can find on Paspatis' life.
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