Evaristo de Chirico

Evaristo de Chirico (3 December 1841–5 May 1905) was an Italian-Greek engineer known for his contributions to railway construction in Greece. He played a key role in developing the railway network of Thessaly in the late 19th century. He was the father of the artist Giorgio de Chirico.

Early life Born into a family a Greek ancestry (the Kyriko or Chirico family was of Greek origin, having moved from Rhodes to Palermo in 1523 together with 4,000 other Greek Catholic families). He was the son of Sicilian barone Giorgio Filigone di Chirico (1794–1875) and Countess Adelaide Mabilli y Bulini (1799–1876). His maternal grandfather, Don Lorenzo Eliondoro Mabilli y Bulini (1763–1853), was the Spanish consul in Corfu and originally from Alicante.

Career After graduating in engineering, De Chirico specialized in railway construction. He gained recognition for his work with the company Evaristo de Chirico & Co., which built railway lines in Bulgaria. In the early 1880s, Charilaos Trikoupis, then Prime Minister of Greece, commissioned him to design the railway network of Thessaly, a recently annexed region lacking railway infrastructure. De Chirico relocated to Volos, which became the operational centre for the Thessaly Railways. He designed and supervised the construction of Volos railway station and other key infrastructure projects. Construction began in 1882, employing Italian and local workers. The Volos–Larissa line, spanning , was inaugurated on 22 April 1884, by King George I. Later, his son Giorgio de Chirico wrote he had been in poor health. Giorgio Filigone di Chirico (1794–1875) and Countess Adelaide Mabilli y Bulini (1799–1876). His maternal grandfather, Don Lorenzo Eliondoro Mabilli y Bulini (1763–1853), was the Spanish consul in Corfu and originally from Alicante.

He married Gemma Cervetto, Genoese baroness of Greek origins from Smyrna, with whom he had three children: a daughter who did not survive and two sons—painter Giorgio de Chirico and writer Andrea de Chirico.

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