Constantine Zochonis

Constantine Polychronis Zochonis (26 July 1894 – 17 May 1951) was a British manufacturer and international merchant. He was chief executive of Peterson Zochonis (now PZ Cussons) from 1929 to 1951.

Constantine Zochonis
Born
Constantine Polychronis Zochonis

26 July 1894
Sale, Greater Manchester
Died17 May 1951, aged 56
Cheshire, England
NationalityBritish
Occupationindustrialist
Titlechairman of PZ Cussons
PredecessorGeorge Basil Zochonis
SuccessorAlexander Loupos
ChildrenSir John Zochonis
RelativesGeorge Zochonis (uncle)

Family

Zochonis' father was Polychronis Basil Zochonis (Greece c.1856 – Bucklow 26 February 1933),[nb 1][1] a buyer for an African merchant. His mother was Eleni or Elene Polychronis Zochonis (Greece c.1870 – Bucklow 11 February 1943),[nb 2][2] and his sister was Alexandra P. Zochonis (b. Bowdon 1900).[nb 3] Constantine was born on 26 July 1894 in Sale, Greater Manchester.[nb 4][3] He was the nephew of the founder of Paterson Zochonis (now PZ Cussons), George Zochonis.[4][5]

In Chelsea, London in 1922, he married Octavia Nitza, née Stavridi (Kensington 22 October 1895 – Sumner 3 June 1981); her father was solicitor John Stavridi (1867–1948), the Greek consul-general in London.[nb 5][6] Their son was Sir John Zochonis (2 October 1929 – 30 November 2013).[4][5]

Zochonis' last address was "Westfield", St Margarets Road, Bowdon, Cheshire. He died on 17 May 1951,[nb 6][7] in Bucklow Rural District, Cheshire, England, and left £253,115 9s 11d (equivalent to £8,128,096 in 2020).[8][7] He was buried on 22 May 1951 in Greater Manchester.[9]

Career

Paterson Zochonis (PZ)
Paterson Zochonis crate label, c.1940

Zochonis was involved in the family shipping merchant business Paterson Zochonis & Co., known as PZ (now PZ Cussons). The company was started in 1879 in Sierra Leone by a pair of trading company workers, Zochonis' uncle George Basil Zochonis (1852–1929) from Greece, and George Henry Paterson (c.1845–1939) from Manchester. They set up a trading post, after working for Fisher & Randall of Freetown.[10] The Dictionary of National Biography describes what happened next:[6]

Incorporated in 1884, PZ grew from a trading merchant into a merchant-supported network of retail and wholesale stores across west Africa. Paterson had no issue and the firm passed to Constantine Polychronis Zochonis, nephew of the founder, in 1932. After 1945 African aspirations for self-sufficiency and industrial progress demanded changes from the half dozen or so European firms in the west African trading system. Constantine Zochonis, as chairman and managing director, chose to invest in African manufacturing. In 1948 PZ purchased a small soap factory at Aba in Nigeria.[6]

Constantine Zochonis became chief executive in 1929 when George Zochonis died,[11] and he expanded the company into the Gold Coast.[10] However, Constantine Zochonis died suddenly in 1951. He was the primary shareholder in the business, so his family was hit with death duties, and that is why the company went public in 1953 - for the protection of the family.[6] Zochonis' cousin Alexander Loupos took charge until Zonchonis' son John became chairman in the 1970s.[11] Zochonis' unexpected death, his son's promotion and political factors facilitated an increase in business. "Between 1974 and 1993 PZ's turnover rose from £75 million to £233 million, attaining over £450 million in the profitable 1970s and 1980s. Employee numbers varied between around 4000 and 5000 during [John] Zochonis's chairmanship". PZ purchased Cussons in 1975,[6][12] and was renamed PZ Cussons plc in 2002.[13] So Zochonis functioned in the early days of what is now a market leader.[14]

Notes
  1. Deaths Mar 1933 Zochonis Polychronis B. 76 Bucklow 8a 335
  2. Deaths Mar 1943 Zochonis Eleni 72 Bucklow 8a 289
  3. Births Sep 1900 Zochonis Alexandra Bucklow 8a 180
  4. England Census 1901, RG13/3321, p.11, schedule 144, "Newcroft", Hale Road, Altrincham, Cheshire. Births Sep 1894 Zochonis Constantine Altrincham 8a 180
  5. Marriages Jun 1922 Zochonis Constantine P. and Stavridi Octavia N. Chelsea 1a 934
  6. Deaths Jun 1951 Zochonis Constantine P. 56 Bucklow 10a 117

References
  1. "Save England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills". ancestry.co.uk. HM Government. 1933. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  2. "Save England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills". ancestry.co.uk. HM Government. 1943. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  3. "1939 England and Wales Register". ancestry.co.uk. HM Government. 1939. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  4. Manchester Evening News. "Sir John Zochonis". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  5. "Sir John Zochonis - obituary". Telegraph. 15 December 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  6. jeremy, David J. "Zochonis, Sir John Basil". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  7. "England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995". ancestry.co.uk. HM Government. 1951. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  8. UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  9. "UK, Burial and Cremation Index, 1576-2014". ancestry.co.uk. HM Government. 1951. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  10. "Paterson Zochonis". gracesguide.co.uk. Grace's Guide to British Industrial History. 7 May 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  11. "Sir John Zochonis". Manchester Evening News. 15 February 2007. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  12. "Our history". pzcussons.com. PZ Cussons. 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  13. "When was pz cussons established?". moviecultists.com. Moviecultists. 2022. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  14. "Share price and tools". pzcussons.com. PZ Cussons. 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
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