Evangelos Zappas
Zappas was a nationalist inspired to revive the Olympic Games by Panagiotis Soutsos, a Greek poet. He sent a letter in 1856 to King Otto of Greece offering to pay to restore the Olympics. The first modern Olympic Games were held on November 15, 1859 in Athens, Greece. And just like in the ancient Olympics, the athletes competed in running, discus throwing, javelin throwing, wrestling, jumping, and pole-climbing. Zappas died on June 19, 1865 with no children. His money was used for developing athletic buildings in Athens, as well as for continuing the Olympic Games. He left instructions for the building of the Zappeion Exhibition and Conference Center named in both his honour and in the honour of his cousin, Konstantinos Zappas.