Life Dates

February 2, 1882 – December 31, 1939

Biography

Andrew Karzas was born in 1888 on the island of Karpathos on the periphery of the Aegean Sea. Andrew Karzas would marry Catherine "Kakia" Karzas in 1924 in Athens, Greece. That same year he and his wife would move to the United States. He became a naturalized citizen in May, 1922 and Kakia became naturalized in December, 1928. In 1926, Andrew, with his brother William Karzas, founded the Aragon and Trianon Ballrooms in Chicago. These ballrooms would become world renowned. Although Andrew Karzas would die in 1939 his brother and son continued to run the business for the next 30 years until 1964, when William Karzas decided to sell he and his late brothers remaining ballroom, the Aragon, to Oscar Brotherman and Leonard Sherman.

Birthplace

Karpathos, Aegean