Born Antonios Ioannis Gerasimos Lekatsas on 18 October 1862, the second child of Ioannis Lekatsas (a priest) and his wife Magdalene Palmos.
Migrating just before his younger brother Marino Lucas (Marinos Lekatsas) from their hometown of Exoghi (Exogi) on the Greek island of Ithaca in 1886, the young man quickly began to build his fortune.