The history of the Greek diaspora is replete with the lives of immigrants who, through hard work, have made new lives for themselves in their second homeland. For some the new land became a stepping stone to a third country. George Lucas Adamopoulos (Adamson) belonged to this category. Newspaperman, industrialist, educator and diplomat, Adamopoulos spent almost half a century in Pacific Rim countries, namely Australia and the Philippines.
Born on 28 April 1899 at the village of Polydrosso, Mount Parnassos, Adamopoulos completed high school studies in 1916 at Amphissa, central Greece and embarked on a two-year course in telecommunications and postal services at Athens Technical College. Then he enrolled at the new School of Chemistry, University of Athens, becoming one of its first students. His graduation followed three years of military service in Asia Minor, Macedonia and Thrace, and by that time he was convinced that he could find success overseas. On 1 May 1927, at the age of 28, he left for Sydney.
The newspaperman
Soon after he arrived in Sydney, Adamopoulos took on the position of editor of the newspaper To Ethniko Vima. The previous editor, Kimon Verenikis, had resigned from his position and its owner Nikolaos Marinakis had been searching for someone to take his place. Adamopoulos’ venture into the area of the press would not become a major career move for him and he would remain with the newspaper for only three years (1927-1930), nevertheless while he was at its helm, To Ethniko Vima was a quality publication.
The industrialist
Coming from a family company with a cotton processing business and a flour mill in Greece, industry was much more in line with Adamopoulos’ aptitudes and interests. He started a chemical company, producing and bottling “Rayospa” mineral waters and bath salts, then became further involved in industry in 1929 as organiser and technical consultant to Australian Absorbent Cotton Wool Products Limited, also in Sydney.
Keenly interested in new developments in industry, after three years in Australia Adamopoulos set off for Japan where he intended to investigate progress there. However, when the boat stopped at Manila in October 1930, Adamopoulos disembarked for some sightseeing. There he met Kyriakos Chounakos, a spirits maker from Sparta. Chounakos, who owned the Mayon Distillery in Albay confided in Adamopoulos that his wines were turning sour – a problem Adamopoulos soon rectified. Delighted, Chounakos offered him the position of chemist and business partner which he accepted, thus closing the chapter of his activities in Australia and opening a new one in the Philippines.
Soon after, Adamopoulos and Chounakos formed the Chunaco-Adamson Chemical Company, producing vanilla, orange, raspberry and banana juices. It lasted until 1932, when Adamopoulos opened a laboratory which became a major assay and analysis facility for a range of materials, such as fuels, textiles, chemicals, medical products, etc., providing a valuable service to industry and agriculture in the Philippines.
Adamopoulos’ other interests would claim his attention in the next decades. From this point on he would be involved as founder, president, director or consultant in nine more industrial companies, concerned with textiles, metals, pharmaceuticals and engineering. He made important contributions to industry and the economy of the Philippines. Furthermore, he became a member of various scientific and industrial organisations including the governmental Philippine Textile Research Institute as the Vice-Chairman, and the Philippine Chamber of Technology as director.
The educator
When Adamopoulos was still in Greece, from 1923-1927 he had run a private coaching school teaching chemistry and other science subjects. Now in the Philippines he saw an even greater need for educational facilities in technology and science, a critical need for the future of the country, rich in resources but industrially underdeveloped.
So on 20 June 1932, Adamopoulos opened the Adamson School of Industrial Chemistry in Manila becoming an important advocate of industrial education in the Philippines. Declaring his debt to his Hellenic heritage, he chose Pallas Athena as the School’s emblem. Then on 15 July 1932 he was joined by his cousin Alexander Athos Adamopoulos who would also play an important role in the future development of this educational endeavour.
Initially a night school, in one year the enrolment had grown to 300 students. In 1934 he also established a technical high school – the only one in the Philippines whose graduates were eligible for admission and scholarships at a number of technical colleges in the USA and Europe.
Two years later he amalgamated his two schools into the Adamson School of Industrial Chemistry and Engineering. The School continued to increase in number of students, courses and educational facilities. In 1935-1941, as the academic reputation of this institution grew, a major milestone was reached on 5 February 1941 when the Adamson School of Industrial Chemistry and Engineering was authorised by the Philippines Department of Education to become a fully-fledged university (The Adamson University), with George Lucas Adamopoulos becoming its President and his cousin Alexander Athos Adamopoulos its Vice-President and Treasurer.
As World War II was expanding in the Pacific and with the occupation of Manila by the Japanese in 1941, the University entered a dark chapter in its history. On 3 January 1942 the University was seized by the Japanese, its library ransacked, and the Adamson family interned as enemy aliens. The University premises and equipment were used by the Japanese as a radio transmission station and when liberation came in 1945 the retreating Japanese razed the entire University leaving no remains whatsoever.
George Adamopoulos was not a man to be defeated, however, and he rose to the challenge of rebuilding his University. So, the Adamson University moved into a building leased from the Vincentian Fathers and once again took on the mission of educating the youth of the Philippines. The University was reopened by the Vice-President of the Philippines and Secretary of Foreign Affairs Elpidio Quirino on 20 June 1946, and the reputation of the University and its founder expanded internationally. Adamopoulos became a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Institutions of Higher Learning and of the New York Academy of Sciences.
The next milestone in the history of Adamson University occurred in 1964. George Adamopoulos, although a permanent resident of the Philippines, had never renounced his Greek citizenship, and this ran contrary to the new government policy that all private educational institutions should be owned by Philippine nationals. To avoid nationalisation, Adamopoulos negotiated with the Vincentian Fathers to take over, and on 4 December 1964 they assumed ownership, with George Adamopoulos remaining President.
At this point the student enrolment had reached 4,115, and the University comprised the Graduate School, Colleges of Liberal Arts and Sciences, of Education, Commerce and Business Administration, Law, Pharmacy, Engineering (Chemical, Civil, Industrial, Mechanical, Electrical, Mining), Architecture, as well as the University High School, Testing Laboratories and School of Naval Science and Tactics.
On 26 January 1967 Adamopoulos, after thirty-five years as an educator in the Philippines, resigned as President of Adamson University while, out of appreciation for his long contribution to the University, the Board conferred upon him the title of Founder, President Emeritus and Life Trustee.
The diplomat
A fourth aspect of George Adamopoulos’ contribution lies in the area of official representation of the Greek Government. After World War II the Greek Government chose him as their official representative to the Proclamation of Independence of the Republic of the Philippines held on 4 July 1946. In 1947 the Greek Government appointed him Consul. He assisted in the conclusion of an Air Agreement between the Republic of the Philippines and the Kingdom of Greece in Athens in 1949, and in Manila in 1950 he was the Chief Delegate and Signatory to the Treaty of Friendship and Consular Establishment between the Philippines and Greece. In 1951 the Greek Government promoted him to Honorary Consul General, which he held until 1973 just before his passing, as well as Delegate of the Greek Government to the International Economic Conference for Customs Regulations and Tariffs held in Manila in 1960.
Recognition
George Adamopoulos’ contribution was first recognised officially in 1937 with an honorary doctorate awarded by the University of Athens on the occasion of its centenary. The Greek Government bestowed on him the Order of King George I Gold Medal and the Gold Cross of the Order of the Phoenix. The Women Chemical Engineers of the Philippines presented him their Gold Medal, while Adamson University gave him a number of awards. In 1968, the Ecumenical Patriarch His Holiness Athenagoras, bestowed on him the title of Offikion tou Archontos Exarchou for founding a university in the Philippines.
In 1982, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of Adamson University (as the Adamson School of Industrial Chemistry), George Adamopoulos’ outstanding contribution to education was celebrated in both the Philippines and Greece. The Greek Government issued a set of commemorative stamps and medals portraying George Adamopoulos as Founder, Emeritus President and Life Trustee of Adamson University in recognition of this anniversary and of the tremendous contribution of one of its native-born sons to a country in the Pacific Rim.
Epilogue
George Adamopoulos died on 28 February 1974 in Greece, the country of his birth. He was survived by his wife, Evdoxia and their son Dr Lucas G. Adamson, also a chemical engineer.
A reminder of the man and his achievements stands in the grounds of Adamson Centre in Manila – the St George Orthodox Chapel, erected by his son. Byzantine in architectural style, the interior is an exquisite blend of Greek Orthodox and traditional Filipino art. The chapel embodies the blend of Adamopoulos’ own Greek values and his pride in his second homeland of the Philippines, where he so successfully fostered education, a traditional Hellenic ideal.
For the full version see the 2003 Flinders University. The photographs are from the writer’s collection.