Everything about Ioannis Kapodistrias totally explained
Count Ioannis Antonios Kapodistrias (- Komis Ioannis Kapodistrias, in, Conte Capo d'Istria,
Background and early career
Ioannis Kapodistrias was born in
Corfu, (Κέρκυρα - Kerkyra in Greek), one of the
Ionian Islands, which at the time of his birth were a possession of
Venice . He studied
medicine,
philosophy and the
law at
Padua, in
Italy. When he was 21 years old, in 1797, he started his medical practice as a doctor in his native island of Corfu. He was throughout his life a deeply
liberal thinker and a true democrat, though born and raised as a nobleman. An ancestor of Kapodistrias' had been created a
conte (count) by
Charles Emmanuel II,
Duke of Savoy, and the title was later (1679) inscribed in the
Libro d'Oro of the Corfu nobility; the title originates from
Capodistria, a city on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Venice, now
Koper in
Slovenia. His mother's family, the Gonemi, had been listed in the
Libro d'Oro since 1606. In 1802 Ioannis Kapodistrias founded an important scientific and social progress organisation in
Corfu, the "National Medical Association", of which he was an energetic member. In 1799, when Corfu was briefly occupied by the forces of
Russia and
Turkey, Kapodistrias was appointed chief medical director of the military hospital.
Minister of the Septinsular Republic
After two years of revolutionary freedom, triggered by the
French Revolution and the ascendancy of
Napoleon, in 1799 the Russia and the
Ottoman Empire drove the French out of the seven
Ionian islands and organised them as a free and independent state — the
Septinsular Republic — ruled by its
nobles. Kapodistrias' liberal ideas of a new European order so threatened Metternich that he wrote in 1819: It was the first time he'd ever set foot on the Greek mainland, and he found a discouraging situation there. Even while fighting against the Ottomans was still going on, factional and dynastic conflicts had led to two civil wars which ravaged the country. Greece was bankrupt and the Greeks were unable to form a united national government.
From the first capital of Greece, Aegina, he ushered in a new era in the country, which had just been liberated from a 400 year Turkish occupation. He founded schools, established
Foundations for young women to work and inaugurated the first university. These
Institutes educated the first teachers of liberated Greece.
Administration
On his arrival, Kapodistrias launched a major reform and modernisation programme that covered all areas. He re-established military unity, bringing an end to the second phase of the civil war; re-organised the military, which was then able to reconquer territory lost to the Ottoman military during the civil wars; introduced the first modern
quarantine system in Greece, which brought epidemics like
typhoid fever,
cholera and
dysentery under control for the first time since the start of the War of Independence; negotiated with the Great Powers and the Ottoman Empire the borders and the degree of independence of the Greek state and signed the peace treaty that ended the War of Independence with the Ottomans; introduced the
phoenix, the first modern Greek currency; organised local administration; and, in an effort to raise the living standards of the population, introduced the cultivation of the
potato into Greece.
The way Kapodistrias introduced the cultivation of the
potato remains famously anecdotal today. Having ordered a shipment of potatoes, at first he ordered that they should be offered to anyone who would be interested. However the potatoes were met with indifference by the population and the whole scheme seemed to be failing. Therefore Kapodistrias, knowing of the contemporary Greek attitudes, ordered that the whole shipment of potatoes be unloaded in public display on the docks of Nafplion, and placed severe-looking guards guarding it. Soon, rumours circulated that for the potatoes to be so well guarded they'd to be of great importance. People would gather to look at the so-important potatoes and soon some tried to steal them. The guards had been ordered in advance to turn a blind eye to such behaviour, and soon the potatoes had all been "stolen" and Kapodistrias' plan to introduce them to Greece had succeeded.
Furthermore, as part of his programme he tried to undermine the authority of the traditional clans or dynasties which he considered the useless legacy of a bygone and obsolete era. However, he underestimated the political and military strength of the
capetanei (καπεταναίοι - commanders) who had led the revolt against
Turkey in 1821, and who had expected a leadership role in the post-revolution Government. When a dispute between the
capetanei of
Laconia and the appointed governor of the province escalated into an armed conflict, he called in Russian troops to restore order, because much of the army was controlled by
capetanei who were part of the rebellion.
Hydran Rebellion and the Battle of Poros
George Finlay's 1861 'History of Greek Revolution' records that by 1831 Kapodistrias's government had become hated, chiefly by the independent Maniotes, but also by the Roumeliotes and the rich and influential merchant families of Hydra, Spetses and Psara. The Hydrans' customs dues were the chief source of the municipalities' revenue, so they refused to hand these over to Kapodistrias. It appears that Kapodistrias had refused to convene the National Assembly and was ruling as a despot, possibly influenced by his Russian experiences. The municipality of Hydra instructed Admiral Miaoulis and Mavrocordatos to go to Poros and to seize the Hellenic Navy's fleet there. This Miaoulis did, the intention being to prevent a blockade of the islands, so for a time it seemed as if the National Assembly would be called.
Kapodistrias called on the British and French residents to support him in putting down the rebellion, but this they refused to do, but Admiral Richord (or Ricord) took his ships north to Poros. Colonel (later General) Kallergis took a half-trained force of Greek Army regulars and a force of irregulars in support. With less than 200 men, Miaoulis was unable to make much of a fight; Fort Heidek on Bourtzi Island was overrun by the regulars and the brig 'Spetses'(once Laskaria Bouboulina's 'Agamemnon')sunk by Richord's force. Encircled by the Russians in the Harbour and Kallergis's force on land, Poros surrendered. Miaoulis was forced to set charges in the flagship 'Hellas' and the corvette 'Hydra', blowing them up when he and his handful of followers returned to Hydra. Kallergis's men were enraged by the loss of the ships and sacked Poros, carrying off plunder to Nauplio.
The loss of the best ships in the fleet crippled the Hellenic Navy for many years, but it also weakened Kapodistrias's position. He did finally call the National Assembly but his other actions triggered more opposition and that led to his downfall.
Assassination
In 1831, Kapodistrias ordered the imprisonment of
Petrobey Mavromichalis, the
Bey of the
Mani Peninsula, one of the wildest and most rebellious parts of Greece. This was a mortal offence to the Mavromichalis family, and on
October 9 1831 (September 27 in the
Julian Calendar) Kapodistrias was assassinated by Petrobey's brother
Konstantis and son
Georgios on the steps of the church of
Saint Spyridon in
Nafplio. Kapodistrias woke up early in the morning and decided to go to church despite the urges of his servants and bodyguards to stay at home. When he reached the church he saw his assassins waiting outside and continued walking towards the entrance. When he reached them Konstantis and Georgios came close to him to greet him and suddenly Konstantis drew his pistol and fired at him but he missed and the bullet stuck in the church's wall where it's still visible today. Then, without delay, he drew his dagger and stabbed him in the stomach while Georgios finished him off by shooting him in the head. Konstantis was shot by General Fotomaras who watched the murder scene from his window and by Kapodistrias' bodyguard (he tried to escape but the enraged crowd beat him to death). Georgios managed to escape and hide in the French Embassy; after a few days he surrendered to the Greek authorities. He was sentenced to death by a court-martial and was executed by firing squad. His last wish was that the firing squad not shoot his face, and his last words were "Peace Brothers!"
Ioannis Kapodistrias was succeeded as Governor by his younger brother,
Augustinos Kapodistrias. Augustinos ruled only for six months, during which the country was very much plunged into chaos. Consequently,
King Otto was given the throne of the newly founded
Kingdom of Greece.
Legacy and Honours
Kapodistrias is greatly honoured in Greece today. The
University of Athens is named "
Kapodistrian" in his honour; the
Greek euro coin of 20
lepta bears his face, as did the 500
drachmas banknote before the introduction of the euro, and a local re-organisation programme that reduced the number of municipalities in the late 1990s also carries his name. The fears that Britain, France and Russia had of any liberal and Republican movement at the time, due to the
Reign of Terror in the French Revolution, led them to insist on Greece becoming a monarchy after Kapodistria's death. His summer home in Koukouritsa, Corfu has been converted to a museum commemorating his life and accomplishments and has been named
Kapodistrias Museum in his honour. It was donated by the late Maria Desylla-Kapodistria, grand niece of Ioannis Kapodistrias, to three cultural societies in Corfu specifically for that purpose.
On 8 December 2001 in the city Capo d'Istria (
Koper) of
Slovenia a lifesize statue of Ioannis Kapodistrias was unveiled in the central square of the city.
The square was renamed after Kapodistrias,
since Koper was the place of Kapodistrias' ancestors before they moved to Corfu in the
14th century.
The statue was created by Greek sculptor K. Palaiologos and was transported to Koper with a ship of the
Greek Navy.
The ceremony was attended by the Greek ambassador and Eleni Koukou, a Kapodistrias scholar and professor at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
Citations and notes
Further Information
Get more info on 'Ioannis Kapodistrias'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://ioannis_kapodistrias.totallyexplained.com">Ioannis Kapodistrias Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
