[1] He was among the primary shareholders of the National Bank of Greece, donated to the University of Athens, and the Greek Orthodox Church through the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.

His uncle Ioannis Anastasiou (Giovanni D'Anastasy, 1780/85–1859/60), prosperous merchant-entrepreneur and general consul of Sweden in Alexandria, brought him to Egypt and then sent him to Malta to open a new branch of the family business.

[4] In Malta, a major logistics hub during the Napoleonic wars, Papafis managed the grain trade and learned English and Italian, besides French.

He was memorialised with a bust at the Maglio Gardens in Floriana, "Erected by the people of Malta to the memory of Giovanni di Nicolò Pappaffy in recognition of his generosity in bequeathing funds to assist emigration".

[4] His most famous contribution was the establishment of an orphanage in Thessaloniki, which he originally named "The Maltese" (Greek: "Ο Μελιτεύς"), now commonly known as Papafeio (Παπάφειο) after him.