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<img src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources-15/george-lucas-adamopoulos-sm.webp" alt="George Lucas Adamopoulos" loading="lazy"/>
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(President of the Philippines Elpidio Quirino with Dr. George Lucas Adamopoulos and his cousin Alexander Adamopoulos; receiving an honorary doctorate in 1948.)
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Adamopoulos, a renowned educator, industrialist, diplomat, and pioneer in the Philippines and overseas, was born on April 28, 1899 at the village of Polydrosso, Mount Parnassos. George Lucas 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 May 1, 1927, at the age of 28, he left for Sydney.
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During this voyage, he changed his surname to Adamson to adapt better to an English-speaking country.
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The newspaperman
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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.
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<h3>
The industrialist
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The educator
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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.
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So on June 20, 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 July 15, 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.
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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.
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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 January 3, 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.
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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 June 20, 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.
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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 December 4, 1964 they assumed ownership, with George Adamopoulos remaining President.
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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.
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The history of Adamson University, and the life of its founder, George Lucas Adamopoulos