We all know the Dexion shelves. Few, however, know that the man who invented these shelves was the Greek-Australian Greek Dimitris Kominos.
His father, oyster dealer, emigrated to Australia in 1884 from the Kythera. Dimitris Kominos was born in Sydney in 1902. From a very young age he showed his talent for invention.
In 1921 he went to England to study Electrical Engineering at University College London. He graduated three years later with A-levels. From 1924 and for three years, he worked for the British company Thomson-Huston in Rugby.
However, the Count was not satisfied. In 1927, he founded in London the printing company «Krisson», from the ancient Greek word «kreison» - better (comparative degree of the word «good», while as a comparative degree of the word «kratys», it has the meaning stronger).
Although «Krisson» was growing rapidly, the Count was not satisfied. In 1939 he invented a system of assembled metal shelves made from perforated iron angles for the construction of all kinds of scaffolding and scaffolding.
In 1947 he founded the company «Dexion» (from the Greek word «dexion»).
Initially, the company was housed in a shed and had a staff of three workers. By 1962, however, it had a turnover of £7 million and soon employed 2,000 workers in 8 countries.
Kominos made significant donations to the earthquake victims of the Ionian Sea (1953), Skopje (1963) and Iran (1966).
Indeed, the last Shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, who was ruling the country at the time, named a village in Iran, Cominu, in his honour.
In the same year, Comino's company was sold to Chicago-based Interlake Inc. for $9.4 million. Cominos remained on the company's board until 1978.
The company Dexion Comino International, founded in 1971 a charity, the Comino Foundation.
In 1935, Dimitris Kominos married Katina Georgiadis, a woman from Rhodes. From their marriage they had a daughter, Anna.
Kominos died on 27 September 1988 of a heart attack while on holiday in Athens...
