Antonis Benakis was an art collector who came from a political background, his father, Emmanuel Benakis, being a politician himself. Despite his non-artistic background, Benaki was heavily influenced by his father and acquaintances in the political and financial industries who also took a deep interest in Greek culture.
Gifted with an artistic eye, Benaki focused his efforts towards this creative direction as his main profession. He began seriously investing in art collecting, and once he permanently settled in Athens in 1926, Benaki founded his very own museum to display his impressive collections gathered from all over the world.