{{Short description|Italian-born Monegasque businessman and real estate developer}} {{Infobox person | image = | image_size = | name = Jean-Baptiste Pastor | caption = | birth_name = Giovanni Battista Pastor | birth_date = 1873 | birth_place = Pigna, Italy | death_date = 20 June 1966 (aged 93) | death_place = Monte Carlo, Monaco | death_cause = | restingplace = | education = | alma mater = | occupation = CEO and owner, J.B. Pastor & Fils | spouse = | parents = | children = Gildo Pastor | relatives = Michel Pastor <small>(grandson)</small><br/>Hélène Pastor <small>(granddaughter)</small><br/>Victor Pastor <small>(grandson)</small><br/>Philippe Pastor <small>(great-grandson)</small> | website = }} '''Jean-Baptiste Pastor''' (born '''Giovanni Battista Pastor'''; 1873 - 20 June 1966) was an Italian-born Monegasque businessman and real estate developer. He was primarily known for founding ''J.B. Pastor & Fils'' in 1920, which became a leading construction company in Monaco.
==Early life== Giovanni Battista Pastor was born in 1873 in Buggio, Italy, above Pigna, Province of Imperia, just across the border from France. He was orphaned at an early age, and was already working as a miner by the age of 13,<ref name=Times>{{cite news|title=Obituaries: Hélène Pastor|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/helene-pastor-qb3n3mmhqtl|access-date=16 January 2015|work= The Times |date=3 June 2014}}</ref> or as a stonemason, according to another source.<ref name=Telegraph>{{cite news|title=Hélène Pastor- obituary|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10849904/Helene-Pastor-obituary.html|accessdate=16 January 2015|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=22 May 2014}}</ref>
==Career== He emigrated to Monte Carlo as a young man in 1880,<ref name=Times/> to seek work on the construction of the Saint-Charles Church.<ref name=Telegraph/><ref name="lexpressvieeco">Philippe Bidalon, Roger-Louis Bianchini, Aline Cochard, Laetizia Dannery, Lea Delpont, Jennifer Schwarz, Pauline Sommelet, [http://www.lexpress.fr/informations/vie-economique_654033.html Vie économique], ''L'Express'', December 11, 2003</ref>
His career as a public works contractor was a success. Pastor eventually started his own company, J.B. Pastor & Fils, in 1920,<ref name=Bloomberg>{{cite news|last1=Metcalf|first1=Tom|title=Monaco Murders Reveal Six Hidden Real Estate Billionaires|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-16/monaco-murders-reveal-six-hidden-real-estate-billionaires.html|accessdate=17 January 2015|work=Bloomberg|date=17 October 2014}}</ref> and won the contracts to build Monaco's water supply system.<ref name=Times/> In 1936, Prince Louis II of Monaco awarded Pastor and his company J.B. Pastor & Fils, the commission to build the country's first football stadium.<ref name=Telegraph/> The Stade Louis II was finished in 1939 and had a capacity of 12,000.
With his newfound wealth, Pastor bought seafront land at low prices after World War II, particularly in the Larvotto district, when there was still no development east of the casino. With the post-war tourism slump, Prince Rainier resolved to diversify from gambling and turned Monaco into a tax haven. In subsequent decades, Pastor's son Gildo was able to build apartment blocks, after getting planning permission to develop in 1966 on this now very valuable land, retaining ownership, and avoiding long leases to maximise rental income.<ref name=Times/><ref name=Telegraph/><ref name=Bloomberg/>
When his granddaughter, Hélène Pastor was shot dead in 2014, it was reported that the Pastors were Monaco's "second dynasty", behind the ruling Grimaldi family, with an estimated holding of 15 percent of Monaco's housing stock, valued at approximately €20 billion.<ref name=Telegraph/>
==Personal life== Pastor was married and lived in Monaco. His son was Gildo Pastor.<ref name=Telegraph/>
== References == {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pastor, Jean-Baptiste}} Category:People from the Province of Imperia Category:Monegasque businesspeople Jean-Baptiste Category:1873 births Category:1966 deaths