The SHP and the Museum of Philhellenism both pay tribute to the great French Philhellene Juliette Récamier.

French-born Jeanne Françoise Julie Adélade Récamier (1777-1849) hosted one of Paris’s most influential philosophical salons, attracting politicians, intellectuals, writers, and artists. She was the wife of banker Jack Récamier and a graduate of a Lyon convent school.

At 19, Récamier had already established an extensive social network among the elite of Paris, and her charm and unique personality helped to spark a revolution in early 19th-century fashion. It was one of the earliest to adopt the “Greek style,” which took inspiration from classical antiquity and mirrored the imperial style popular during the First Empire.

In 1819, he was associated with the French writer, politician, and great Philhellenic Chateaubriand. Récamier was a prominent member of the Paris Philhellenic Committee and one of the most influential women in French Philhellenism. Madame Recamier corresponded with the Philhellene French soldier Olivier Voutier (1796-1877) while he was in Greece. She later published Voutier’s lengthy letters, titled “Letters on Greece,”in which he describes Greek culture, landmarks, and battles. The Philhellenic Committee benefited from the sales of the book that swayed the French to support the Greek Revolution.

Récamier was a key figure in the philhellenic movement. Her relationship with the romantic writer, politician, and Philhellene François-René de Chateaubriand (1768-1848) sparked and sustained a lifelong affection for Greece and the Greek people that lasted through the Greek War for Independence. Recamier donated substantial amounts of money to the Greek Revolution out of her own coffers and through fund-raising efforts.

At the age of 72, on May 11, 1849, in Paris, Juliette Récamier succumbed to the cholera epidemic. Her life was full of intensity; she inspired the passions and cultivated friendships with many notable figures of the time, including Victor Cousin, Lamartine, Balzac, François Gérard, Canova, and many others.

SHP and the Philhellenism Museum honor the great American Philhellene Julia Ward Howe, Julia Ward (1819-1910).

Famous pacifist, feminist, abolitionist, human rights activist, and poet. She wrote the poem Battle Hymn of the Republic.

Wife of the American Philhellene Samuel Gridley Howe.

She supported the struggle of the Greeks during the revolution in Crete (1866-1869) with the establishment of the “Greek Relief Committee” in Boston, raising money, food and clothes. She even dedicated a poem to Greece. To support the Cretan revolutionaries, she organized an important event in Boston with the participation of prominent musicians. Only from this event, she raised 2,000 thalers, and sent them to Greece.

Later Julia Ward came with her family to Greece and helped the Cretan refugees with money and clothes. (S99)

by Georgios Argyrakos

European philhellenism, as a historical phenomenon, has a “persistent” character, because it appears since Roman times and continues in various forms in Byzantium, in Medieval Europe, in the Orthodox Slavic world, and again in the context of Humanism and Enlightenment, etc. This accumulation of many centuries of philhellenic capital, activated a variety of incentives for philhellenic action during the Greek Revolution. One of these incentives that derives from the foundation of the European civilization, was the interest for the human being who fights for freedom. This was the view of thousands of anonymous and known Philhellenes who perceived the Revolution through this particular angle, one of which is concerned by this article.

The Swiss doctor Louis-André Gosse (1791-1873), was a typical example of a selfless Philhellene who offered a lot to Greece, purely for ideological reasons. He sacrificed his personal comfort and almost his life, just in order for him to help people who were fighting and suffering for their freedom and their rights. He did not fight with the sword and the rifle, but with a box of surgical tools (one of the few that existed in Greece at that time), and with his knowledge and organizational abilities.

Gosse [1] was a well-known doctor in Geneva, with liberal beliefs. He was the son of the pharmacist Henri Albert Gosse, one of the founders of the Swiss Society of Natural Sciences. He studied medicine in Paris, from where he graduated in 1816. Since then, he toured Europe (Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, England and Ireland) and in 1820 he returned to Geneva, where he practiced medicine. He was politically active in the Liberal Party, through which he proposed the abolition of the public shaming of criminals and the withdrawal of various anti-Semitic measures. He was a co-founder and columnist of the «Journal de Genève», which was published on January 1826, onwards.

This journal published often news from the Greek Revolution and his letters from Greece. For the liberal circles of Europe, Greece was the last bastion in the fight for civil liberties after the suppression of the revolutions in Naples, Piedmont and Spain by the Holy Alliance. At the same time Greece was the battlefield between two worlds: A Christian European nation against a Muslim empire.

Since 1825, when Egyptian troops landed in the Peloponnese, the situation of the revolutionaries deteriorated, not to mention the disputes between them. The attempted genocide committed by the Egyptians in collaboration with the Turks, and the occupation of Messolonghi (April 22, 1826) revived the philhellenic interest in Europe, after a period of recession.

Previously, the first moves for the diplomatic recognition of the provisional Greek government had been made, while negotiations had begun between the Great Powers for military intervention in Greece. On April 4, 1826, Great Britain and Russia concluded the Anglo-Russian Protocol of St. Petersburg, which even provided for military intervention. This treaty accelerated the developments.

This was followed by the Treaty of London on July 6, 1827, which assigned a joint naval force of Great Britain, France and Russia to the Peloponnese. The treaty imposed a cessation of hostilities and provided for the use of military force in the event of non-compliance by both parties.

From the moment the Porte refused to accept the Treaty, the conflict was inevitable. It was the world’s first great intervention for humanitarian reasons, and more precisely, a demonstration of the European entity, on the basis of the same values ​​on which the European construction is still based.

While this was happening and the Revolution was in a state of disarray, Gosse decided to abandon his brilliant career and his comfortable life in Geneva in order for him to come in Greece. His decision was supported by the great Swiss Philhellene Jean Gabriel Eynard. He was a great leader of the philhellenic movement, not only in Switzerland but also of the whole Europe. In this endeavour, he had Capodistrias and the Archbishop of Hungary, Ignatius, as valuable collaborators. Eynard was collecting significant aid for Greece, and needed some trustworthy people to manage it on the field.

Gosse writes that his eagerness to come to Greece ignited one day in 1826 when Eynard showed him a moving letter from the widow of Markos Botsaris (Bouvier-Bron, p. 345). The Swiss banker soon decided that Gosse was capable of undertaking thetransport and management of a generous financial and military aid in Greece which was that raised in favor of the Greek fleet. Other trustees who had been assigned a similar role by philhellenic committees, were Dr. Bailly for the Paris Committee and Colonel Heideck for Bavaria.

Gosse would become the right hand man of Lord Cochrane who had been appointed Commander of the Greek fleet by the National Assembly of Τroizina (March – May 1827). Eynard took over all the expenses of Gosse’s mission.

Prior to his departure, Gosse met with Cochrane, who was passing through Geneva, and with Kapodistrias.

From the latter, he received information about the dire situation in which Greece was. He departed from France on December 20, 1827, he crossed the Mont-Cenis Alpine crossing at night, by sleigh, and went to Italy.

On December 31 he left Ancona and after a difficult trip, he arrived in Zakynthos on January 16, 1828, exhausted by the turbulence of the sea and the fumes from the fermentation of the flour carried by the ship.

On February 2, he went to Nafplio, which was the base of the revolutionary government and at the same time a source of intra-Greek friction. There, he met the French doctor Bailly.

His main purpose was to distribute the aid he carried, in money, weapons and food. It is often argued that the Egyptians prevailed over the Greek revolutionaries, because they were more organized as a regular army with French trainers.

According to certain sources, however, it seems that the problem of the Greeks was primarily the lack of food and ammunition. After six years of continuous war, domestic agricultural production had been wiped out due to a reduction of human resources and the destruction of crops and infrastructure.

At the same time, land transports were blocked. On February 27, 1827, the president of the Third National Assembly in Ermioni, G. Sisinis, wrote to Gosse about the terrible lack of food in the military campuses in Attica, which were in danger of being dismantled because of the famine.

He asks him to send to Karaiskakis to Elefsina 40-50 thousand ounces of flour from the one donated by the philhellenic committees of Europe. Gosse, who had immediately started working on the aid management committee, agrees and in 4 days, he sends 80 thousand ounces of corn by boat from Hydra.

On April 4, Karaiskakis wrote from Keratsini to the government that it was high time that the enemy should be stroked because at that moment, he was weaker than ever. But the army needs 7 thousand ounces of flour per day, as more Souliotes and Peloponnesians come to help. Αlso, 50-100 thousand bullet packs were needed (Vakalopoulos, pp. 114-116, See Archive of National Rebirth, Vol. 3, pp. 352. 388).

Due to the unrest that prevailed in the Peloponnese, Gosse preferred to settle in Hydra initially, and to offload the abovementioned aid in warehouses there. It seems that captains like Miaoulis disagreed with this decision, who preferred to store the aid in Poros. In March 1827, Cochrane arrived in Greece and Gosse was appointed head of the logistics   of the fleet. Τhe warehouses where the aid was stored, were finally transferred to Poros, where a small port was established. Poros is described by Gosse as an oasis of calm in the belligerent Greece. The supplies are managed by a committee, which, apart from Gosse and Bailly, it also includes Heideck, Koering, and the Milanese exiled, Porro.

The money of the aid is used to buy grain, coming from Russia and Poland via Odessa. Money is also sent for the repair of the steamer frigate “Karteria” and other ships of the Greek fleet.

At the same time, Goose offers his medical services to the fighting Greeks who were trying to recapture Athens and other parts of Attica. He was one of the doctors who tried in vain to save the life of Karaiskakis after the battle of Faliro (April 22-23, 1827). He then took care of other wounded soldiers and, with the help of a young English surgeon, he proceeded to two mutilations in the admiral’s camp. He writes that while he was effecting these mutilations (it was a horrible procedure, only with the use of a saw and without anesthesia), some people went to him asking for food. Since he did not have ink and a pen available, he signed food coupons using the blood of the wounded patients for ink and matches for a pen. A few months later he tried in vain to save the 18-year-old Paul Marie Bonaparte, nephew of Napoleon, who accidentally, but seriously injured himself with a pistol, while he was  cleaning it in the flagship frigate “Hellas” in Nafplio (Bouvier-Bron, 346).

After the failure to retake Athens and the defeat of the Greeks at Faliro, supplies and money were exhausted. On May 31, 1827, Heideck wrote to Eynard that the committee’s money were spent. Under the circumstances, the government decided to impose taxes to the islands but also to borrow from wealthy merchants, in order to support the operation of the fleet, since there was no officially independent Greek state, yet. Cochrane appointed Gosse in charge of tax collection from the islands. Because tax revenues were meager, he is assigned to ask for a loan from the merchants of Syros.

And this proves difficult, as the repayment of the loan is as uncertain as the future of the Revolution and the merchants are protected by the consulates of various European powers.

After complex negotiations with the various agents of the islands, Gosse managed to raise an amount.[2] Goose handed over part of this amount to Cochrane, and with the remainder, he organized a flotilla of two schooners and two gunboats, to fight piracy and raids by isolated Turkish, but also Greek ships. Thus Gosse, from being a doctor in the country of the Alps, he turned to a naval commander in the Aegean, further to a decision of the “Secretariat of the Navy” in June 1827. He was quite successful in this task, because Kapodistrias, in a letter dated back to March 20, 1828, recognized Gosse as an expert in naval matters and recommended Gosse to Hastings, the Philhellene captain, who was looking for officers for small ships.

In the meantime, the Swiss philhellenes continued to send weapons, money and other supplies. Gosse keeps records of the revenues and the expenses, such as expenses for salaries, purchase of food and animal feed, purchase of gunpowder, etc. At the same time, Goσse accepts requests to help Greek refugees from various areas occupied by the Turks (Vakalopoulos, 142, 143). Gosse himself describes the various occupations he had in Greece:

«I have become a real harlequin by being a conciliator, counselor, coordinator, general commissioner, treasurer, merchant, secretary, doctor. My heart has not changed, I assure you, and it will not change at all, despite the force of events, despite the contradictions …».

With external help, a small 35-ton boat is built in Poros, others are repaired, fortifications are built, and a  workshop to produce rusks (dry bread) is established (which was then a major supply for the army and navy). Other financial resources were used for the purchase of surgical tools and medicines, for helping philhellenes, etc.

In the midst of his career as a «Supply and Transportation» officer, Gosse found time to serve as a doctor at «Karteria», and participated on the battlefield which destroyed several Turkish ships in the Gulf of Itea (September 17, 1827). From Gosse’s service in «Karteria» a catalogue with the names of 94 crew members, mainly Greeks, English and Swedish is available (Vakalopoulos, pp. 155, 156).

The following month, the famous naval battle of Navarino took place, offering a new potential for an independent Greek state. The Treaty of London provided that the state borders would be defined later. Thus, in areas such as the Aegean islands, the Western Greece and Crete, the revolutionary spirit was rekindled, because people understood that they were in danger of remaining within the Ottoman Empire during the forthcoming processes.

Inhabitants of Chios who had taken refuge in Syros and other islands, with the help of French military under the command of Fabvier and Cochrane, organized a campaign to retake Chios in October 1827. Gosse helped their attempt as well, and in fact, he participated in the landing in the Turkish-occupied Chios. There, he risked his life due to the negligence of some of Fabvier’s officers. The two Frenchmen who accompanied him on a reconnaissance mission on land, left him alone in an area that was within the vicinity of the Turkish artillery of the castle of Chios. There, a shot took his hat away and forced him to leave in fear. Finally the campaign in Chios failed, mainly due to the inability of the Greek forces (regular and non-regular), and the locals to coordinate and adopt a joint plan. Fabvier was then ordered by the French Admiral de Rigny (Derigny) to leave, as the Greek Provisional Government could not support the campaign. Thus, Chios was not included in the new Greek state.

Louis-André Gosse, at an older age. Lithograph. SHP Collection / Philhellenism Museum

The plague epidemic

Gosse risked his life for the second (at least) time during the plague epidemic which appeared in the Argolic Gulf and in the villages of Achaia. The epidemic started from the expeditionary force of the Ottoman Egyptians in Methoni. A large number of European doctors (mainly French and Italian) served under Ibrahim Pasha, but they were late in diagnosing the disease. Because of the exchange of prisoners and other movements of the population, the plague epidemic first appeared in the summer of 1828, in Aegina, and then in Hydra, in Megara, in Nafplio, in other surrounding areas and in some villages of Achaia.

There was probably a simultaneous outbreak of another disease, referred in the sources of the time as «malignant fever», from which Gosse was also infected. The population was in general weakened from hunger and hardships, and was vulnerable to all kinds of diseases that were almost endemic, such as malaria, typhus, etc.

Gosse’s most important contribution to Greece was that he helped to limit the effect of the epidemic. Kapodistrias’ perspicacity and personal interest also contributed to this, as he hastened to give the Swiss doctor the necessary power, which in practice corresponded to the function of a «minister of health». The governor of Greece had himself a medical background from his studies in Padua (1794-1797).

Other doctors, as well as non-specialist citizens contributed to this battle; they manned the police and the quarantine services, the burial of the dead (the so-called «mortis»), the management of medicines, etc. Those who had studied in Italy or had medical experience from the Ionian Islands, knew and applied the quarantine measures that had been developed in the past by the Venetians, who had also founded the various «lazarettes» in the Balkans and Italy (Tsoucalas, 2021). After the outbreak of the epidemic, someone sent from Corfu to Aegina a “Sanitary Order” containing older but relevant instructions in Venetian, French, Tuscan and papal language. This formed the basis for drafting a Greek public health order for the occasion. Gosse states that «fortunately this health provision came too late», as he considered it useless and outdated (Gosse, pp. 168, 169).

It is doubtful whether foreign doctors from Northern Europe and America had ever seen victims of the plague closely. At least, Gosse mentions that in Hydra it was the first time he saw such a patient when the government called him there on this occasion and he was welcomed by Mavrokordatos himself. The latter (having also studied medicine), had already made the diagnosis: (To Gosse) “I warn you that it is a plague and I advise you to lubricate your hands”. The use of oil was a common practice for protection against the plague. Although Gosse considers it controversial, he believes that it is not completely useless (Gosse, pp. 122, 148). He describes that he approached the patient “like a soldier on the attack”, but was unable to save him.

Microbiology had not yet been developed before the 1860s and the factors that caused infectious diseases were not known (in the case of plague, it was a bacterium with intermediate hosts, rodents and fleas). However, it was known that socializing and sharing objects contributed to the spread of epidemic diseases, and isolation was a common treatment. Various medicines of the time may have helped to treat symptoms, such as fever, but not the basic cause of the epidemics.

One of the prevailing theories about epidemics was that they were caused by a «miasma» (miasma in the European medical terminology of the time) which was transmitted by air or through objects or by physical contact.

This theory had its roots in Hippocrates’ theories and was widespread in Europe throughout the Middle Ages and until the late 19th century. Gosse believed in this theory, which he confirmed from his observations in the field, and so he applied urgent isolation measures, including the construction of quarantine facilities. He produced a detailed record of his observations on the epidemic, and developed some new ideas for treatment. Apart from his book «Relation de la peste qui a régné en Grèce en 1827 et 1828», he recorded relevant details in reports and letters he sent to Kapodistrias, while collecting reports from other doctors. Among the officials of the interim government, Ioannis Kolettis, who was also a doctor, had an active role in the implementation of the public health measures. Other doctors, Greek and from abroad who were in Hydra, Poros, Spetses, Nafplio, Argos, Aegina, joined the fight against the invisible miasma. In the race against the invisible enemy, Gosse also collaborated with other European doctors who served in Ibrahim’s army, listing his names in a catalogue, as usual. The American Philhellene doctor Samuel Howe was in Greece at the same time and offered his services to the navy.

The Greek camp under Dimitrios Ypsilantis in Megarida, was affected, as were many civilians who had found refuge on the small peninsula in Vourkari, which was protected by the Wall. [3] Gosse went there to inspect the situation, assisted by the «smart and active» Pavlos Diamantidis. They also brought with them some basic medicines of the time, which Gosse mentions in a list along with the dosage: Emetics, which were tartaric acids for adults and ipecacuan syrup for children, caustic soda for cauterizing ulcers (fr. charbons) and inguinal lymph nodes, quinine for antipyretic, ammonia, sulfuric acid, herbs, including chamomile, mustard powder for «mustard-blister», honey, vinegar, lemons and oranges, syringes, scalpels, suction cups for bleeding, etc. (Bouvier, pp. 350). Gosse used a lot the sage that grew abundantly in the area as a medicine. Ιn rational terms, this did not have any pharmacological effect on plague (similarly with others), but it may had brought some relief to some patients, and at the same time, due to its previous boiling , it acted as a source of healthy water free of parasites, something hard to find under those conditions.

Ten years later, having gathered all his observations from the epidemic, he wrote that most of the treatments applied by him or other doctors, such as tartar cream (crème de tarter), bandages, acidic drinks, leeches, etc., did not bring any significant reduction in mortality, except the reduction of the cauterization of ulcers and inguinal lymph nodes with caustic potassium (sur les charbons et les bubons) which immediately stopped mortality (Gosse, pp. 142, 145). He also mentions the case of a «charlatan» in Chios who was giving patients a concoction that also contained a small amount of dried tissue from patients’ wounds. He found out that this homeopathic treatment did not work either. It was another time when academic medicine was not much more successful than empirical medicine.

In the small peninsula of the Wall, a miserable situation was prevailing as healthy people were living closely together with the sick and dying, without clean water under the terrible heat of «33 degrees Réaumur», ie 40 Celsius. He visited more than 60 patients, he cauterized the ulcers and administered emetics and quinine in several of them. He ordered the construction of temporary shelters made from branches, to protect the patients from the sun, which he placed at a distance of about 2 meters from each other, so that one could move between them without touching them. Similar quarantine facilities, but better planned, were erected in Aegina, designed by the Austrian consul, archaeologist and Philhellene Georg Christian Gropius (1776-1850). Incidentally, it should be noted that the latter’s great contribution to Greece was the rescue of many antiquities. [4] Gosse left Diamantidis at the Wall and returned to Poros, where the epidemic was adequately controlled by quarantine measures.

From his frequent contact with patients he also fell ill (not from plague) having fever and reaching on the verge of death many times. He went to the hospital to receive medical care, which was founded by the American Philhellenes Samuel Howe and John D. Russ, thanks to donations from American philhellenes in the USA. There, in a crisis of fever late at night, he decided to apply an original treatment to himself: to go boating. Dr. Russ believed that Gosse went crazy and tried to stop him. Following the patient’s insistence, Russ himself took him to a boat, gave him something refreshing, and they took a trip in the cool sea air. They went ashore near a monastery which disposed of a spring of cold water with which Gosse quenched his thirst and inflammation and managed to fall asleep after days of insomnia. He considered the spring water to be healing and sprinkled it in his room. He then moved to Syros and Naxos where he recovered.

Gosse returned to Poros where he worked to settle various issues, but, periodically, he was suffering from fever. As he writes, the inhabitants of Poros offered him great care, sending him supplies and letters of support: «Respected clergymen, ignoring the fact that I am a Protestant, they made public supplications for my recovery. … later, my socializing in Moria made me wholeheartedly appreciate the honesty of the vast majority of these people...» (Gosse, pp. xij). Of course, he does not fail to mention the intrigues and the moral collapse that prevailed among a few powerful people. His morale was then undermined and he began to think about returning to Switzerland. His mother, to whom he had a lavish affection, encouraged his thought of returning to Switzerland through her letters.

Prior to this return, he undertook a new inspection mission in another center of the epidemic, Achaia, where he was interested in investigating the course of the disease in a cold mountain climate. Gosse left Aegina on Christmas Day 1828, crossing the Isthmus of Corinth and continued to Patras by sea. After meeting with French officers of General Maison, he headed to the mountains of Kalavrita. Through snowy landscapes on January 4, he arrived to the village of Visoka, after being in danger of the cold and his fever in the mountains. He examined a number of patients and gave instructions for the application of health measures, but the disease disappeared on its own at the end of the winter.

Summing up the description of the epidemic, Gosse notes that out of the 1113 patients he identified, 783 died and 330 survived. In some areas the mortality was 100%, such as in the Megara camp and in Liguria, Argolis, while in others it was lower. For example, it was 50% in the city of Argos, and even lower in the Wall (Vakalopoulos, catalogue, pp. 205). The disease subsided in the spring of 1829, in his opinion thanks to the climate of Greece and the sparse population.

«Mission completed»

Towards the end of 1828 Gosse’s financial resources were exhausted and Goose was helped by the Epirote merchant of Syra, Apostolos Doumas, as well as by Count Frangopoulos of Naxos. For being treated so well, he wrote “I reaped the fruits of my devotion [to Greeks] and recognized that the reputation that Greeks are ungrateful is unfounded” (Gosse, p. Xj).

Gosse was even in need of borrowing 2,000 piastra from Viaros Kapodistrias. Ioannis Kapodistrias managed to extend Gosse’s stay in Greece because he was in great need of such qualified executive officers. He even wrote to his mother in order for her to give her approval to extend her son’s stay in Greece. Gosse, exhausted by his illness and financial problems, having done his duty as a doctor and administrator of the philhellenic aid, he decided to return to his homeland and rest. He left Greece in the summer of 1829. Kapodistrias expressed his gratitude in writing for the services he had offered. He was declared an honorary citizen of Kalavrita, Poros and Athens (which has not yet managed to give his name to a street). From Switzerland, he continued to correspond with friends in Greece and to be interested in Greek affairs. He continued his cooperation with Eynard who continued to send financial aid to Greece, although by the middle of 1829 the philhellenic alacrity of the Europeans was fading. After all, Greece had secured its independence, while the heroic battles and sacrifices of the Greeks, which were feeding the philhellenism of the West in the past, were diminished.

However, philhellenism continued in a different form. It aimed mainly at the acquisition and liberation of Greek slaves from the slave markets of the Mediterranean (Eynard and Ludwig I also played an important role at this time, too).

In 1838 Gosse visited Greece with his wife and King Othon honored him with the medal of the Struggle and the silver Cross of the Redeemer. The same year he published his observations from the plague epidemic in Greece. There, he summarized the findings of the already existing literature on the treatment of the plague, the treatments and the quarantine measures applied in various plague areas of Greece, statistics, etc.

It is an interesting text that concerns the history of medicine in modern Greece.

Conclusion

The case of Andre Louis Gosse shows one of the many aspects of philhellenism of 1821. He was neither an admirer of ancient Greece, nor a «romantic», he was not an Enlightenment intellectual, nor was he an Orthodox with a Byzantine education. He was a liberal man who enthusiastically viewed the national movements of the post-Napoleonic era, and at the same time, being himself a physician, he was sympathetic towards the daily needs of the people who were the subject of these movements. The Greek reality did not disappoint him and he did not lose his enthusiasm like other former philhellenes did. He was observing and noting the intra-Greek rivalries and the shortcomings of the local leaders, but he was dealing with them with compassion. He attributes these phenomena to the previous slavery and oppression by the Turks, and he was generally refers in a very positive way to the Greeks. Undoubtedly, he knew that similar or even worse things had happened in the recent French Revolution and its aftermath, while the worst of all was the Napoleonic Wars, which was in fact a civil war between Europeans.

Among the two main areas in which he worked, his most important contribution was perhaps in the field of the philhellenic aid management and the administration of certain government mechanisms. The big issue at that time (and maybe, an eternal one) in Greece, was morally sound people to be present in order for them to manage the existing financial capital without it being wasted by corruption.

His medical work was also very important, but it is questionable whether he was irreplaceable in this discipline, or not. Probably other Philhellenes and Greek doctors could have offered equally the same with what he offered, given that they (especially the Greeks) had more experience in epidemics in similar conditions in Greece. Possibly, however, the glamor of the «doctor from Switzerland» offered Gosse a prestige that Greek doctors did not have.

Vakalopoulos nicely summarizes Gosse’s contribution in the final paragraph of his dissertation on Swiss philhellenism:

Gosse, like Eynard, are two striking examples of Europeans who, despite their strong philhellenic consciousness, they face the local problems with concreteness and restrained optimism. Their attitude towards Greeks is the attitude of friends towards their beloved ones, who find it difficult to find their way, an attitude full of deep understanding of their miserable past, of mild strictness for some of their deflections and of sincere intention to help them in their great aim, which is the liberation of their homeland.”

Photo of the title of the Journal de Geneve, and news about the fundraise by Eynard, in favour of the Greeks, 23/3/1826. https://www.letempsarchives.ch.

Notes:

[1] Louis-André Gosse should not be confused with the painter Nicolas Louis François Gosse (1787-1878) who also painted some paintings related to the Greek Revolution. The first is mentioned in ancient Greek sources as “Gos(s)is”.

[2] For a detailed description of taxation and lending efforts see Vakalopoulos, p. 121 et seq.

[3] Wall of Megarida. In his work Gosse refers to it as Tychos. Vakalopoulos has rendered it as “Τycho”, but I could not confirm that this is a historically correct name.

[4] Georg Christian Gropius must have been the ancestor of the architects, among which the most famous is Walter Gropius (1883 – 1969), father of the Bauhaus school. See «Gropius (family)», https://de.zxc.wiki/wiki/Gropius (Familie) with relevant bibliography. For G.C. Gropius there is the study of Emm. Protopsaltis «George Christian Gropius and his action in Greece», Athens, 1947.

Sources – Bibliography:

Bouvier-Bron, Michelle, “La mission médicale de Louis-André Gosse pendant son séjour en Grèce (1827-1829)”, Gesnerus: Swiss Journal of the history of medicine and sciences, 48 (1991), No. 3-4, pp 343- 357.  http://doi.org/10.5169/seals-521197

Gosse Louis-André, Relation de la peste qui a régné en Grèce en 1827 et 1828: contenant des vues nouvelles sur la marche et la traitement de cette maladie. Ab. Cherbuliez et Cie, Paris, 1838. https://books.google.gr/

Tsoucalas Gregory et al., “The Greek physician and politician Ioannis Kapodistrias (1776-1831) and the plague of 1828 in Greece”, Le Infezioni in Medicina, 2021, 29(1):157-159. www.researchgate.net

Αρχεία της Εθνικής Παλιγγενεσίας, ψηφιοποιημένα στο https://paligenesia.parliament.gr

Βακαλόπουλος Α. Κωνσταντίνος, «Σχέσεις Ελλήνων και Ελβετών φιλελλήνων κατά την Ελληνική Επανάσταση του 1821», Διδακτορική Διατριβή, Ίδρυμα Μελετών Χερσονήσου του Αίμου, 163, Θεσσαλονίκη, 1975. www.apostoliki-diakonia.gr/

 

 

William Townsend Washington (1802-1827) was an American Philhellene from the State of Virginia in the United States of America. He was a Lieutenant in the US Army (4th Artillery Regiment). After attending the West Point Military Academy, he spent some time in France, where he befriended General Lafayette (Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette, 1757-1834). Upon his return to the United States, Secretary of Defense John C. Calhoun (1782-1850) assigned him a military teaching position.

Excited by the Greek issue, Washington resigned from the US Amy in order to go to Greece. He was aware of the importance his surname carried due to his relationship with the first President of the United States, George Washington. Washington used his name to promote his plans for Greece.

William Townsend Washington arrived in Greece in June 1825 as an envoy of the Philhellenic Committee in Boston. Edward Everett (1794-1865), founder of the Committee, recommended Washington to Alexandros Mavrokordatos, as he strongly believed in this young man’s devotion to the Greek Cause. Washington arrived in Greece wearing an impressive Hussar officer uniform.

This is probably the sixth American Philhellene who came to Greece as an envoy of the committees, based on all records we have up to this date. Some American Philhellenes had already visited Greece before Washington: George Jarvis in 1822; Officer Jonathan Peckham Miller, Navy Officer John M. Allen and Richard W. Ruddock arrived in 1824. The prominent American Philhellene, physician Samuel Gridley Howe, arrived in Greece in early January 1825.

During the period that Washington was active in Greece, the American Philhellene Merrett Bolles arrived from Ohio. He was a captain of the American Navy, who served in the Regular Army in Greece (1825 – July 1826) under the French Philhellene General Charles Fabvier.

Washington arrives in Greece at a very critical point of the Greek Struggle. In the winter of 1824-1825, Ibrahim landed in the Peloponnese. The Greek forces are in disarray, with many chiefs in prison. Papaflessas decides to defend the Greek positions in Maniaki, Messinia, thus preventing Ibrahim’s forces from spreading to the Peloponnese. He falls heroically in the Battle of Maniaki in May 1825. The government appoints Theodoros Kolokotronis chief commander of the army. However, the Greek forces are unable to confront the regular army of Ibrahim.

The French Philhellene Fabvier undertakes to organize a regular army (from July 1825 onwards).

In order to confront Ibrahim, the Greek government asked already in May 1825 the London Philhellenic Committee to reinforce the Greek revolutionary forces with another 4,000 men.

Already in October of the previous year, the Philhellenic Committees in the USA proposed to the London Philhellenic Committee to form and send to Greece a Legion of Philhellenes volunteers, which they would finance. The London Committee requested approval by the Greek government. This proposal was not implemented, probably because the Greek military believed that certain Greek politicians would use this Legion to strengthen their powers. The fighters in the irregular army worried that the existence of a regular army corps would mean that they themselves had to be subject to rules of discipline.

The necessity of a foreign Legion of regular army is recognized by Andreas Louriotis and Ioannis Orlandos, who also negotiated the first national loan to Greece. They suggested Charles James Napier (1782-1853), a British officer and a representative of the British authorities in Cephalonia, to lead this corps. Several Philhellenes agreed that a foreign military corps would assist the Greeks significantly in their Struggle. French Philhellene, General Roche, tried to convince general Georgios Karaiskakis about the positive influence that such a corps would have on the Greek Cause.

Washington arrives in Greece in June 1825, and raises the issue of founding a “Foreign Legion” to further strengthen the Greek Struggle. He does not imagine a corps, which would be staffed exclusively by American volunteers. Washington dreams of an international Legion, composed by Americans, French, Italians, Germans and Irish officers. He accepted that the Greek government would define the percentage of participation for each nation. The soldiers would be recruited in Ireland; in case the British government rejected this option, the soldiers would be found in Switzerland and the USA. It is understandable, that the transfer of volunteers from Ireland and Switzerland was incomparably easier than the one of American volunteers.

Washington had specific plans regarding the formation of this Legion, which he aspired to lead, as he bore a name with historical significance.

In Hydra he met the Kountouriotis family, then went on to Nafplio to meet Alexandros Mavrokordatos. In July 1825 he announces his full plan to Mavrokordatos, citing a detailed calculation of the expenses for the maintenance and transportation of the new army corps. He requests that the volunteers fighting in Greece would have the rights of a Greek citizen after the Liberation. Then Washington formally requests the Greek Administration’s approval for his plan, in order to visit the European capitals (London, Paris and Dublin) and gather his officers. After this he would lead the Legion to Greece.

For the reasons stated above, Washington’s Plan was finally abandoned.

When the Greek politicians submitted an “Act of Subordination” to Great Britain, Washington, along with other Philhellenes, strongly reacted against the possibility of Greece being put under English protection (as was the case for the Ionian Islands), after its liberation from the Ottomans. The American Philhellenes, in consultation with the French General Roche, submitted a written protest to the Greek government asking them not to proceed in such a direction.

In fact, Washington adopted a tough stance against Great Britain, and promoted (along with General Roche) the assignment of the Greek throne to a member of the French royal family. Both of them tried to impose this political line on the Philhellenic Committees in the USA and France. This attitude, however, was renounced by both countries.

This evolution in Greece disappointed Washington, who decided to leave the country in 1825. In fact, he started his journey from Smyrna. While he was in Smyrne, he was wearing a Greek attire, provoking the hateful gaze of the Ottomans. During his trip, he was informed that England would not undertake the protection of Greece. So he asked to go to Messolonghi (October 1825). There he fell ill and was transported to Nafplio.

 

August 27, 1825: William Townshend Washington, letter from Smyrne

 

His country’s attitude on the subject hurt him so much that he wrote a harsh letter criticizing strongly his own homeland.

In May 1827 he went to Zakynthos, which was under British administration. There, it is said that he fell in love with Markos Botsaris’ daughter, Vasiliki, whom he asked to marry. Markos’s brother, Costas Botsaris, refused to agree to this marriage.

 

The daughter of Markos Botsaris (SHP collection / Philhellenism Museum)

 

After Zakynthos he went to Nafplio, and joined the forces of Chief Photomaras. In fact, it is reported that he fought bravely. At the same time he worked to reconcile the warring factions of the Greeks.

 

Souliotis chief Nasos Fotomaras (- 1841)

 

During a clash between Greek factions on July 16, 1827, Washington was eventually killed by a shot fired from Palamidi towards the city of Nafplio. He was taken to the British ship Asia, where he breathed his last. He lost his life at the age of just 25, passionately serving the ideals he believed in and of course Greece, which he dearly loved.

The tomb of the American Philhellene, William Townsend Washington, is located in Hydra, the place where he was hosted when he arrived in Greece.

 

US Ambassador G. Pyatt at the tomb of William Townsend Washington in Hydra

 

One thing is certain about the American Philhellene, William Townsend Washington. He fought bravely for Greece, which he loved with an incredible passion.

 

Sources – Bibliography:

  • Barth, Wilhelm-Kehrig-Korn, Max, Die Philhellenenzeit. Von der Mitte des 18. Jahrhunderts bis zur Ermordung Kapodistrias‘ am 9. Oktober 1831, Max Hueber Verlag, Μόναχο, 1960
  • Βαγενάς, Θάνος, Δημητρακοπούλου, Ευρυδίκη, Αμερικανοί Φιλέλληνες Εθελοντές στο Εικοσιένα, Μάτι, Αθήνα, 2017
  • Μαζαράκης-Αινιάν, K. Iωάννης, Αμερικανικός Φιλελληνισμός 1821-1831, Iστορική και Εθνολογική Εταιρεία Ελλάδος, χ.ημ.
  • Αρχείο ΕΕΦ

 

 

Gramsi Michele (1786-1873). Italian Philhellene form Naples. Artillery captain of the Army of the Kingdom of Naples. He reached Kalamata on May 1, 1821 and joined the first regular military unit, under the command of French officer Philhellene, Joseph Baleste. From May 15 to June 16, 1821 he took part in the siege of Navarino. On December 4, 1821, he was wounded during the siege of Nafplio. In April 1822 he was responsible for the military recruitment ordered by the Revolutionary Government in the Aegean islands, and contributed to the mobilization of 282 men. He fought in the battle of Dervenakia on July 26, 1822, holding the rank of major. On September 5, 1822 he served in Nafplio. The Second National Assembly of Astros awarded him the rank of colonel in March 1823. For his action, in December 1823, he was honored with an honorable mention by the Executive Corps. In December 1825 he took part in the second siege of Tripolitsa. From February 1826 to May 1827, he took part in the siege of the Acropolis of Athens, as commander of the Artillery of the Regular Army, under the orders of the French Philhellene Charles Fabvier.

He received two medals for his participation in the Greek War for independence.

At the end of the Greek Uprising, he continued to serve in the Greek Army as an officer. He died in 1873 in Athens.

SHP pays tribute to this great Philhellene and his contribution for the liberation of Greece.

 

Sources – Bibliography:

  • Fornèsy, Henri, «Οι Φιλέλληνες», περ. Εβδομάς, Αθήνα, 1884, Έτος Α΄, αριθ. Φ. 1, κ.ε.
  • Κασιμάτης, Μανόλο, Italiani filelleni 1821-1897. Ιταλοί Φιλέλληνες-εθελοντές 1821-1897, ιδ. εκδ., Αθήνα, 2011.

 

 

Franciszek Mierzewski or Mierzejewski (1786 – 1822), was a Polish officer from Warsaw, who served in the French Army.

In 1807, after the Treaty of Tilsit, which led to the liberation of Poland from the Russians and the establishment of the Duchy of Warsaw by the French[1], Mierzewski enlisted in the French Cavalry and was promoted to second lieutenant[2].

In 1808 he was placed in the 1st Polish Light Cavalry Regiment of the French Imperial Guard and served under the orders of the Polish Count Wincenty Krasinski[3]. From this position, he was distinguished in the victorious for the French battle at Somosierra, Spain, on November 30, 1808[4].

In February 1809 he took part in the Portuguese campaign, under French General Jean Soult[5], and then he was assigned missions in Bavaria and Austria. There he was distinguished in the victorious for the French battles of Essling in Bavaria and Wagram in Austria, on May 22, 1809 and on July 5, 1809 respectively[6].

In January 1810, his unit left Bavaria and relocated to Chantilly, France[7]. He stayed there until February 1812 and was promoted to lieutenant[8].

At the end of February 1812 he was transferred to Torun, on the border of the Duchy of Warsaw with Russia[9], to the French Imperial Guard of the French General Louis-Nicholas Davout and his staff[10].

Mierzewski was particularly prominent during the Russian campaign from June to December 1812[11]. For his action in Russia, as well as for his bravery in the battle of Weissenfelds / Lützen on May 2, 1813, he was honored with the medal of the Knight of the Legion of Honor[12].

The Treaty of Fontainebleau on April 4, 1814, led to the first resignation of the French Emperor Napoleon I from the French throne and his exile to the island of Elbe in Italy[13], and the 1st Polish Light Cavalry Regiment of the French Imperial Guard was disbanded[14]. Only one of its units remained active, and followed the French emperor to his exile[15], with lieutenant Mierzewski[16].

Napoleon’s returned from his exile to the French throne on March 20, 1815[17], and this unit joined the Red Lancers Cavalry Division of the French Army under French General Colbert[18]. Mierzewski was an officer of this brigade and he took part in the battles of Ligny and Waterloo, on June 16, 1815 and June 18, 1815 respectively[19].

The Battle of Waterloo led to the final resignation of Napoleon from the French throne on June 22, 1815, the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty on July 8, 1815, and the exile of Napoleon to St. Helen’s Island on July 15, 1815[20], The gradual demobilization of foreign soldiers serving in the French Army followed. In this context, on October 1, 1815, the Polish military was demobilized from the French Army[21]. Mierzewski was demobilized with the rank of captain[22].

After 1815 Mierzejewski left Poland again. He travelled to South America, where he participated in the liberation of New Granada and Venezuela, Spanish colonies, under the command of Simon Bolívar. Then he returned to Europe, and participated in the revolutions triggered by the Italian Carbonari in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (07.1820) and Piedmonte (01-03.1821). After the suppression of the revolutions he left Italy via Naples to Greece.

He was a citizen of an occupied at that time country, for the freedom of which he fought as a French Army officer. When the Greek Revolution broke out, Mierzewski was one of the first to join the philhellenic movement. A little later he traveled to Greece in early 1822 to offer his services as a volunteer.

On April 1, 1822, the Greek Assembly voted a law “on the Organization of the Army” in Nauplio, which led to the establishment of the Regular Army. The leadership was assigned to the emblematic German-Philhellene General, Count Karl Friedrich Leberecht von Normann-Ehrenfels. This law formed the basis of subsequent military legislation[23].

In this context, the Battalion of the Philhellenes was established under the command of the Italian Philhellene, Lieutenant Colonel Andrea Dania. Mierzewski was appointed commander of the 2nd Company of the Batallion of the Philhellenes[24]. Along with the Battalion of the Philhellenes, the 1st Infantry Regiment was formed, under the command of the Italian Philhellene Lieutenant Colonel Pietro Tarella.

The first mission of the Regular Army was to end the siege of Souli by the Ottoman forces. The success of this mission would lead to the renewal of the independence war in Epirus, to the continuous strengthening of the Greek Forces with experienced and ready for combat officers, as well as to the elimination of the danger of the rapid advance of the Ottomans in southern Greece[25].

The first mistake made by the Greek command was that it did not allow the rapid advance of the Greeks and Philhellenes to Arta, which would prevent the gathering of Turkish troops. The troops were also affected by diseases, while they were suffering food shortages. Another important problem was the behavior of the irregular forces, especially those commanded by the chief Bacolas. In fact, many days before the march to Arta started, there were rumors suggesting that Bacolas was in contact with the Turks. Of course, it was impossible to believe that a Greek would betray the struggle and his own compatriots[26].

The Greek forces confronted first the Turks in Kompoti, on June 22, 1822. According to the war plan, “the Philhellenes, as regular soldiers, should not seek the tops of the mountains to defend themselves safely, but had to stay in the dangerous places of strategic importance and not miss the opportunity to confront the enemy”[27]. Based on this, the 1st Infantry Regiment under Tarella and the Battalion of the Philhellenes under Dania, were placed at vital points at the foot of the hills. The enemy attack was successfully repulsed and the Ottomans retreated to Arta with many losses[28].

 

Representation of the battle of Kompoti. Work of Panagiotis Zografos, commissioned by General Makrygiannis (SHP Collection).

 

The Philhellenes left Kompoti, weakened by fatigue, illnesses, hunger and thirst, and moved during the night to Peta, where the Turks were gathering their forces. Other Greek forces arrived there and preparations for the battle began.

Disagreements arose in the war council of the leaders as to whether the irregulars or the Regular Army would be at the forefront of the Greek Forces, as well as whether or not to use fortifications (drums). Finally it was decided to form a perimeter towards Peta. Normann was dissatisfied with this decision and, realizing the difficult position of the Greek side, expressed his concerns in a letter to Mavrokordatos[29]. Although he was the leader of the Greek forces, was absent from the battlefield. He had set up his headquarters in Lagada, which was 6 hours away from Peta[30].

In his letter, Normann stressed that the regular soldiers numbered only 515[31]. He also expressed his fear that Bacolas would abandon the Greeks and that the irregulars were unable to offer their support. Mavrokordatos did not take advantage of this experienced officer and insisted on his own plans. The Philhellenes accepted them out of respect[32].

Regarding the second part, the construction of the fortifications was finally imposed, which, as foreign sources confirm, were also used by the Philhellenes, despite Dania’s position, that “our tambourines are our chests”[33].

Another major problem was the lack of discipline and coordination of the troops. After the battle of Kompoti, Gennaios Kolokotronis returned to Peloponnese with his troops, by order of his father, an act for which he was criticized[34]. At the same time, 1.200 fighters left to the north to help the Souliotes. This unit comprised Markos Botsaris, Karatasos, Angelis Gatsos, Georgios Varnakiotis, Alexakis Vlachopoulos and Andreas Iskos. However, they failed to reach Souli and were stopped by the Turks in Plaka, on June 29, 1822. Those who survived returned to Peta. Gogos Bacolas had planned to drag Markos Botsaris to Souli, to trap him in Plaka by the Turks[35].

On the day of the battle of Peta, a unit of Maniates under Kyriakoulis Mavromichalis also arrived in Splantza to help the Greeks. But the unit did not arrive timely to integrate the Greek forces. The Souliote chiefs Lambros Veikos and Vassilios Zervas joined them and they confronted jointly the Ottomans who were sent to repel them. In this battle, Kyriakoulis Mavromichalis himself was killed fighting heroically[36].

All these moves lacked coordination and the Greek forces, that would face the main attack of the Turks, were not organized.

On the morning of July 4, 1822, 7.000 – 8.000 Ottomans who had arrived from Arta, attacked the Greek positions. Normann warmly encouraged the men of the Regular Army and inspected all positions on horseback.

Initially, the Philhellenes and the Regular Army successfully repulsed the enemy. The continuous and coordinated shots caused serious losses to the attackers. A factor of success of this war tactic, is the composure of the soldiers, the constant and fast reloading of their weapons, the incessant firing and the maintenance of the positions without breaking their ranks. The 1st Infantry Regiment and the Battalion of the Philhellenes were an impenetrable wall, as the training which was given previously to them by Baleste (the founder of the first Regular Army in Greece) bore fruit[37].

 

Representation of the Battle of Peta. Work of Panagiotis Zografos, commissioned by General Makrygiannis (SHP Collection).

 

But suddenly a fatal thing happened. Bacolas and his men treacherously left their positions, allowing the Turks to break the lines of the 1st Infantry Regiment and the Battalion of the Philhellenes[38]. Tarella was trying to cheer the men of his Regiment. Finally he was surrounded by the Ottomans, who beheaded him[39]. Mierzewski fought bravely on the front line until the end.

General Normann, the glorious Philhellene, undertook the command of the 1st Infantry Regiment, and led it back into battle, encouraging them: “For the salvation of the Philhellenes! Victory or death”!  In the raid that followed, he was wounded in the chest and taken to the rear to treat his serious injury[40].

Gradually the Regiment began to recede and was now an easy target for the Turkish cavalry. The Philhellenes were abandoned by the irregulars. The Philhellenes and the Greeks for the Ionian islands suffered a disaster. They were surrounded by the enemy at an exposed point and decimated.

Scenes of exemplary heroism unfolded. Dania, was cheering the soldiers of the Battalion of the Philhellenes until the end. He was surrounded by the Ottomans who beheaded him[41].

Mierzewski, leading 15 Polish soldiers of the 2nd Company of the Battalion of Philhellenes, fortified in the church of St. George in the center of Peta and, fighting heroically, he tried to facilitate the retreat of the Greek Forces[42].In fact, the Polish soldiers fought even from the roof of the church. The Ottomans finally set it on fire, as it was impossible to vanquish them. They all fell heroically[43].

The French Captain of the French Army Jean Mignac, officer of the 1st Infantry Regiment, fought with unparalleled bravery. The Turks tried to capture him, taking him, because of his impressive uniform for General Normann. Refusing to surrender, he fought heroically. Wounded all over his body, he confronted the Ottomans leaning on the trunk of an olive tree. Surrounded by a multitude of enemies, he neutralized 14 of them[44]. When his sword broke, he committed suicide cutting his throat[45].

From the volunteers of the Regular Army, 160 Greeks form Ionian islands and Philhellenes fell heroically. Many were taken prisoners to Arta and killed after horrific tortures and brutal humiliation. Many Philhellenes were forced to walk naked for hours, holding in their hands the heads of their comrades[46].

The few survivors gathered in Lagada, among them the tragic figure of the noble hero General Normann, who, as after the battle of Kompoti, arrived last in the camp and was presented to Mavrokordatos, to whom he stated: “We lost everything, Your Highness, except our honor”![47]. The 1st Infantry Regiment, the Battalion of the Philhellenes and a large number of enthusiastic European Philhellenes and Greeks for the Ionian islands no longer existed.

 

Monument in Peta in honor of the fallen Philhellenes on July 4, 1822.

 

Polish officer Franciszek Mierzewski, and his Polish comrades, were among the most heroic figures in the Battle of Peta.

Greece and SHP honor the glorious memory of Franciszek Mierzewski and his heroic comrades-in-arms, who fought to the end for the Freedom of the Greeks and are eternally grateful for their sacrifice.

 

References

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[2] Sinko, Thadeusz, “Udzial Polakow w bojach I pracach Hellady”, εκδ. περ. “Przeglad Wspolczesny”, Βαρσοβία, 1932, τεύχος 125, σελ. 285.
[3] Kwaśniewski, Włodzimierz, “Dzieje szabli w Polsce”, εκδ. Bellona, Βαρσοβία, 1999.
[4] Nieuważny, Andrzej, “Najpiękniejsza z szarż”, εκδ. περ. “Rzeczpospolita“, Βαρσοβία, 2006, τεύχος 123.
[5] Pawly, Ronald, “Napoleon’s Polish Lancers of the Imperial Guard”, εκδ. Osprey Publishing, Λονδίνο, 2007.
[6] Chłapowski, Dezydery, “Memoirs of a Polish Lancer”, εκδ. Emperor’s Press, Chicago, 1992.
[7] Brandys, Marian, “Kozietulski i inni”, εκδ. Iskry, Βαρσοβία, 1982, σελ. 222.
[8] Βλ. στο ίδιο, σελ. 225.
[9] Chłapowski, Dezydery,”Memoirs of a Polish Lancer”, εκδ. Emperor’s Press, Chicago, 1992.
[10] Brandys, Marian, “Kozietulski i inni”, εκδ. Iskry, Βαρσοβία, 1982, σελ. 271.
[11] Kukiel, Marian, “Dzieje oręża polskiego w epoce napoleońskiej 1795-1815”, εκδ. Kurpisz, Poznań, 1912.
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[13] Lieven, Dominic, “Russia Against Napoleon: The True Story of the Campaigns of War and Peace”, εκδ. Penguin, Λονδίνο, 2010, σελ. 484.
[14] Pawly, Ronald, “Napoleon’s Polish Lancers of the Imperial Guard”, εκδ. Osprey Publishing, Λονδίνο, 2007.
[15] Kukiel, Marian, “Dzieje oręża polskiego w epoce napoleońskiej 1795-1815”, εκδ. Kurpisz, Poznań, 1912, σελ. 468.
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[22] Barth, Wilhelm – Kehrig-Korn, Max, “Die Philhellenenzeit. Von der Mitte des 18. Jahrhunderts bis zur Ermordung Kapodistrias‘ am 9. Oktober 1831”, εκδ. Max Hueber Verlag, Μόναχο, 1960, σελ. 44.
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[36] Περραιβός, Χριστόφορος, “Πολεμικά Απομνημονεύματα. Μάχες του Σουλίου και της Ανατολικής Ελλάδας 1820 -1829”, εκδ. Βεργίνα, Αθήνα, 2003, σελ. 160.
[37] St Clair, William, “That Greece Might Still be Free: The Philhellenes in the War of Independence”, εκδ. Open Books, Λονδίνο, 2008, σελ. 277.
[38] Κουτσονίκας, Λάμπρος, “Γενική Ιστορία της Ελληνικής Επαναστάσεως”, εκδ. Δ. Καρακατζάνη, Αθήνα, 1863, δ’ τόμος, σελ. 178.
[39] St Clair, William, “That Greece Might Still be Free: The Philhellenes in the War of Independence”, εκδ. Open Books, Λονδίνο, 2008.
[40] Gridley Howe, Samuel, “An Historical Sketch of the Greek Revolution”, εκδ. White, Gallaher & White, Νέα Υόρκη, 1828.
[41] Fassino, Pier Giorgio, “Andrea Dania”, εκδ. περ.”Accademia Urbense”, Ovada, Σεπτέμβριος 2006, σελ. 188.
[42] Συλλογικό, “Greckie źródła do dziejów Rzeczypospolitej”, εκδ. Hellenopolonica, Αθήνα, 2014.
[43] Treiber, Heinrich, “Αναμνήσεις από την Ελλάδα 1822-1828”, επιμ. δρ. Χρήστος Ν. Αποστολίδης, ιδ. εκδ., Αθήνα, 1960.
[44] Pouqueville. F.C.H.L., “Histoire de la régénération de la Grèce, 1740-1824”, επιμ. Albert Schott, J. P. von Hornthal, εκδ. Univ.- Bibl. Heidelberg, Χαϊδελβέργη, 1825.
[45] Raybaud Maxime, “Mémoires sur la Grèce pour servir à l’histoire de la guerre de l’Indépendance, accompagnés de plans topographiques, avec une introduction historique par Alph. Rabbe”, εκδ. Tournachon-Molin Libraire, Παρίσι, 1824, τόμος 1.
[46] Στο ίδιο.
[47] Στο ίδιο.

 

Bibliography – sources

  • Συλλογικό, “Greckie źródła do dziejów Rzeczypospolitej “, εκδ. Hellenopolonica, Αθήνα, 2014.
  • Grab, Alexander, “Napoleon and the Transformation of Europe“, εκδ. McMillan, Νέα Υόρκη, 2003.
  • Sinko, Thadeusz, “Udzial Polakow w bojach I pracach Hellady“, εκδ. περ. ‘’Przeglad Wspolczesny’’, Βαρσοβία, 1932, τεύχος 125.
  • Kwaśniewski, Włodzimierz, “Dzieje szabli w Polsce“, εκδ. Bellona, Βαρσοβία, 1999.
  • Nieuważny, Andrzej, “Najpiękniejsza z szarż“, εκδ. περ. “Rzeczpospolita“, Βαρσοβία, 2006, τεύχος 123.
  • Pawly, Ronald, “Napoleon’s Polish Lancers of the Imperial Guard“, εκδ. Osprey Publishing, Λονδίνο, 2007.
  • Chłapowski, Dezydery, “Memoirs of a Polish Lancer“, εκδ. Emperor’s Press, Chicago, 1992.
  • Brandys, Marian, “Kozietulski i inni“, εκδ. Iskry, Βαρσοβία, 1982.
  • Kukiel, Marian, “Dzieje oręża polskiego w epoce napoleońskiej 1795-1815“, εκδ. Kurpisz, Poznań, 1912.
  • Lieven, Dominic, “Russia Against Napoleon: The True Story of the Campaigns of War and Peace“, εκδ. Penguin, Λονδίνο, 2010.
  • Chandler, David, “Waterloo: The Hundred Days“, εκδ. Osprey Publishing, Λονδίνο, 1981.
  • Alexander, Robert S., “Bonapartism and Revolutionary Tradition in France: The Federes of 1815“, εκδ. Cambridge University Press, Λονδίνο, 1991.
  • Barth, Wilhelm – Kehrig-Korn, Max, “Die Philhellenenzeit. Von der Mitte des 18. Jahrhunderts bis zur Ermordung Kapodistrias‘ am 9. Oktober 1831“, εκδ. Max Hueber Verlag, Μόναχο, 1960.
  • Διεύθυνση Ιστορίας Στρατού, “Η ιστορία του Ελληνικού Στρατού”, εκδ. Γενικό Επιτελείο Στρατού, Αθήνα, 1997.
  • Elster, Daniel – Johann, “Το Τάγμα των Φιλελλήνων. Η ίδρυση, η εκστρατεία και η καταστροφή του“, εκδ. Ιστορική και Εθνολογική Εταιρεία της Ελλάδος, Αθήνα, 2010.
  • “Ιστορικόν Αρχείον Αλεξάνδρου Μαυροκορδάτου“, επιμ. Εμμ. Πρωτοψάλτης, Γενικά Αρχεία του Κράτους, Αθήνα, τόμος 1, φακ. 197.
  • Κουτσονίκας, Λάμπρος, “Γενική Ιστορία της Ελληνικής Επαναστάσεως“, εκδ. Δ. Καρακατζάνη, Αθήνα, 1863, δ’ τόμος.
  • Βυζάντιος Χρήστος, “Ιστορία των κατά την Ελληνικήν Επανάστασιν εκστρατειών και μαχών και των μετά ταύτα συμβάντων, ων συμμετέσχεν ο Τακτικός Στρατός, από του 1821 μέχρι του 1833 “, εκδ. Κ. Αντωνιάδου, Αθήνα, 1874.
  • Συλλογικό, “Ιστορία του Ελληνικού Έθνους“, εκδ. Εκδοτική Αθηνών, Αθήνα, 2000, 12ος τόμος.
  • “Ιστορικόν Αρχείον Αλεξάνδρου Μαυροκορδάτου“, επιμ. Εμμ. Πρωτοψάλτης, Γενικά Αρχεία του Κράτους, Αθήνα, τόμος 2, φακ. 548.
  • Φωτιάδης, Δημήτρης, “Η Επανάσταση του ’21“, εκδ. Μέλισσα, Αθήνα, 1971, β’ τόμος.
  • Woodhouse, Christopher Montague, “The Philhellenes“, εκδ. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, Madison, 1971.
  • Κολοκοτρώνης, Γενναίος, “Απομνημονεύματα“, εκδ. Βεργίνα, Αθήνα, 2006.
  • Voutier, Olivier, “Απομνημονεύματα του συνταγματάρχη Olivier Voutier από τον πόλεμο των Ελλήνων“, μετ. Ειρήνη Τζουρά, επιμ. Παναγιώτα Παναρίτη, εκδ. Εθνικό Ιστορικό Μουσείο, Αθήνα, 2019.
  • Περραιβός, Χριστόφορος, “Πολεμικά Απομνημονεύματα. Μάχες του Σουλίου και της Ανατολικής Ελλάδας 1820 -1829“, εκδ. Βεργίνα, Αθήνα, 2003
  • St Clair, William, “That Greece Might Still be Free: The Philhellenes in the War of Independence“, εκδ. Open Books, Λονδίνο, 2008.
  • Gridley Howe, Samuel, “An Historical Sketch of the Greek Revolution“, εκδ. White, Gallaher & White, Νέα Υόρκη, 1828.
  • Fassino, Pier Giorgio, “Andrea Dania“, εκδ. περ.”Accademia Urbense”, Ovada, Σεπτέμβριος 2006.
  • Treiber, Heinrich, “Αναμνήσεις από την Ελλάδα 1822-1828“, επιμ. δρ. Χρήστος Ν. Αποστολίδης, ιδ. εκδ. , Αθήνα, 1960.
  • Pouqueville. F.C.H.L., “Histoire de la régénération de la Grèce, 1740-1824“, επιμ. Albert Schott, J. P. von Hornthal, εκδ. Univ.- Bibl. Heidelberg, Χαϊδελβέργη, 1825.
  • Raybaud Maxime, “Mémoires sur la Grèce pour servir à l’histoire de la guerre de l’Indépendance, accompagnés de plans topographiques, avec une introduction historique par Alph. Rabbe “, εκδ. Tournachon-Molin Libraire, Παρίσι, 1824, τόμος 1.

 

Portrait of Belgian Philhellene De Lannoy Augustin (SHP collection)

 

De Lannoy, (Guillaume) Augustin (also written as Delannoy, Delannoi, Delanoi) was a volunteer from Brussels, Belgium. According to some sources (i.e. Fornezy) a certain “Delannoi” was reported to be part of the Battalion of the Philhellenes commanded by General Norman. Same sources argue that he fought in Peta in July 1822.

However, according to Belgian newspapers (e.g. Le Courrier de la Meuse of 5 June 1826), Augustin De Lannoy and N.J. Trumper left Belgium in 1824 for Greece.

De Lannoy participated in many fundraising concerts and commemoration services, to support the Greek cause, and his name appeared often in the European press.

 

Τhe program of June 3, 1826, of one of the many concerts that took place in favor of the Greeks in Europe. The aim of these events was to raise money for the financial support of the Greeks, and to promote the rights of Greece (SHP collection).

 

As of his arrival in Greece in 1824, he joined the Regular Army under General Fabvier and he was appointed Captain of the Light Infantry of the Third Greek battalion. In 1826 he moved with the army units which stationed in Troizina, with a mission to stop the forces of “Ibrahim-Pacha”. In this context, he participated in many operations until June 1826 and very likely also in the battle of Myloi, where 500 Greek fighters and Philhellenes defeated an army of 6600 Ottomans led by Ibrahim-Pascha himself.

A little later he died on the island of Andros of 6 July 1826.

His contribution was recognized and his name figures on the monument of Toure in the church of The Transfiguration of the Saviour in Nafplio.

 

The Catholic Church of Metamorphosis tou Sotiros (The Transfiguration of the Saviour) in Nafplion and the Touret Arch memorial of Philhellenes at its entrance.

 

SHP and the people of Greece pay tribute to this great Belgian Philhellene, and honor his memory, together with the one of all his Belgian comrades who offered their services, and even their lives, to the Greek war of independence, as volunteers in Greece or through their participation in the philhellenic movement in Belgium.

 

 

Carl Anton Joseph Rottmann was a famous German landscape painter and a beloved painter of the Bavarian king Ludwig I (1786 – 1868). He was famous for his mythical-heroic themes in his painting. Rottmann’s greatest artistic achievement was the creation of the “Greek Circle” (Griechenlandzyklus), a series of romantic landscape paintings of Greece, which he created after an assignment by Ludwig I. He was considered to be the “most important landscape painter of Munich”, and was one of the first German painters to accomplish realistic pictures of Greece (as noted by the German architect, Leo von Klenze, 1784-1864). The importance of his contribution was recognized in his time, and, after his death, a room of the New Gallery of Munich (Neue Pinakothek) was dedicated exclusively to the exhibition of the works of the “Greek Circle” (1853). He is the only artist to be awarded such an honor at the Neue Pinakothek.

He was born on 11 January 1797 in the Handschuhsheim district of Heidelberg and apprenticed with his father, Friedrich Rottmann, who taught painting at the city’s University. Carl’s younger brother, Leopold, also became a painter; without reaching an equal fame. Carl Rottmann´s mastery in using watercolor and the power of his compositions can be already seen in some of his first works. He was influenced by the Dutch landscape painters, the Frenchman Claude Lorrain (1600-1682), and the Englishman George Augustus Wallis (1761-1847), with whom he became associated during the latter’s stay in Heidelberg. Rottmann, along with his compatriots Philipp Fohr (1795-1818) and Ernst Fries (1801-1833), was one of Heidelberg’s leading Romantic painters, and influenced a number of younger landscape painters.

His moving to Munich in 1821 was a turning point in his rise as an artist. Through his wife, Friedericke Sckell, and her family circle, he came in contact with the Bavarian monarch, Ludwig I. Ludwig´s ideological and artistic program aimed to promote the Wittelsbach House in Munich, as well as to emphasize the common cultural heritage of the emerging new Greek state and Bavaria. The architectural buildings and the urban redesign of the “Athens on the Isar”, as well as the new artworks that were created, clearly supported this ideological program. As a patron of the arts, Ludwig Ι soon formed a circle of favored painters and architects around him. One of his favorite artists was Rottmann (from 1841 onwards the official “painter of the royal court” – Hofmaler), to whom he commissioned the illustration of the galleries of the garden of Munich (Hofgarten) with Italian landscapes. The accessible to the public gardens would offer a “free history lesson”. The Bavarian monarch chose to emphasize his homeland’s relationship with Italy through an artistic tour of the neighboring country. In order for Rottmann to enrich his repertoire of images with realism, Ludwig instructed him to visit Italy (1826-1827). Thus he created 28 idyllic topographies (frescoes) by 1828, which were originally intended to be exhibited at the Hofgarten.

The cycle of the “Italian works” paved the way for another important assignment of Ludwig I to Rottmann. The eldest son of the monarch, Othon, had already been crowned King of Greece in 1832, and the creation of some monumental works that would underline the alliance and friendship between the two countries were needed. Thus Ludwig financed Rottmann´s transition to the newly built Greek state (1834-1835) to collect material for the creation of “Greek works” in the northern wing of the Hofgarten galleries. These works would complete the program of idyllic – romantic landscape that was inaugurated with the Italian themes. The original plan was to create 38 scenes. Apart from Rottmann, Ludwig’s envoys to Greece were the painters Ferdinand Stademann (1791-1873), Ludwig Lange (1808-1868), Peter von Hess (1792-1871), the army officers / painters Karl Wilhelm Freiherr von Heideck (-1861) and Karl Krazeisen (1794-1878), as well as the architect Leo von Klenze (1784-1864). Peter von Hess was also commissioned by Ludwig I to create images from the Greek Revolution for the Hofgarten’s north portico.

Ludwig Lange was an important companion of Rottmann in Greece, who provided him with valuable advice on his architectural plans. Rottmann encountered difficulties during his one-year journey, as evidenced by a number of letters he wrote at the time. He toured both mainland Greece (Athens, Corinth, Nafplio, Tiryns, Mycenae, Epidaurus, Nemea, Sparta, Thebes) and the islands (Evia, Naxos, Delos), and created hundreds of sketches of the landscapes he visited, sometimes panoramic representations with pencil and watercolor.

 

Sunset in Epidaurus, Carl Rottmann, oil on canvas (SHP collection).

 

The image of the war-torn Greece that the painter came across during his twelve-month stay was far from the idealized “Arcadia” that Ludwig I wanted to promote. For the depictions of places of significant historical importance, e.g. “Schlachtfeld von Marathon” (the battlefield of Marathon), Rottmann avoided narrating events through the depiction of persons, assigning it more to the elements of nature, animals or weather phenomena, with which he “confesses” the historical events to his viewer. He also tried to combine the evidence of antiquity with the Greek modern presence, as in “Athen, vom Brunnen aus” (view of Athens from a fountain). These choices made him the proponent of a new “romantic, heroic landscape”. His works stand out for their skillful rendering of light and subtle shades of sky. The expression “Rottmannhimmel” (Rottmann sky) as a reference to a clear blue sky survives in Munich up to this day.

After returning to Munich in October 1834, he transferred his drafts to watercolors, in order to present them to Ludwig I and gain his approval for their transfer to the Hofgarten. For the “Greek Circle” he first used encaustic painting, which guaranteed longevity in the works, then experimented with the use of resin. By 1849, he had created 23 landscapes, thus reducing the number of works originally planned. The idea of their outdoor exhibition was abandoned. From 1853 the scenes were on display in a special room of the New Gallery in Munich that bore his name (Rottmann-Saal, Neue Pinakothek). This room, together with the New Gallery building, was closed with the outbreak of World War II. Due to their weight, the images could only be moved to the basement of the museum, where they suffered a significant damage. In 2003 a new Rottmann room was created in the new building of the New Gallery (1981), where 14 of his 19 restored paintings were exhibited.

Carl Rottmann died in Munich on July 7, 1850, just a few weeks after completing his last painting of the “Greek Circle”. His tomb is located in the Alter Südfriedhof in Munich.

 

Bust of Carl Rottmann, lithography, 19nth century.

 

SHP honors the great painter and Philhellene Carl Rottmann, who preserved for the younger generations the image of Greece that he confronted during the first years of the Greek state, through his atmospheric landscapes.

 

Sources – Bibliography

  • Fuhrmeister, Christian; Jooss, Birgit (Hrsg.), Isar/Athen Griechische Künstler in München – Deutsche Künstler in Griechenland, Μόναχο 2008.
  • Kepetzis, Ekaterini, „Imagination und Wirklichkeit. Griechenlandrezeption in der westeuropäischen Malerei“, στο: Κonstantinou, Evangelos (Hrsg.), Das Bild Griechenlands im Spiegel der Völker (17. bis 18. Jahrhundert), Philhellenische Studien Band 14, Peter Lang, Frankfurter am Main 2008.
  • Kepetzis, Ekaterini, Rezension von: Herbert W. Rott / Renate Poggendorf / Elisabeth Stürmer: Carl Rottmann. Die Landschaften Griechenlands, Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz 2007, στο KUNSTFORM 9 (2008), Nr. 1, https://www.arthistoricum.net/kunstform/rezension/ausgabe/2008/1/
  • Μιχαήλ, Γιάννης, «Δέκα τόνοι Ελλάδα», Το Βήμα, 25.11.2008.
  • https://www.pinakothek.de/kunst/carl-rottmann/kopaissee

 

Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, Boston, December 1873. Daguerreotype. Archive Hall of Fame for the Blindness Field, Louisville.

 

Samuel Gridley Howe (1801-1876) was a prominent American Philhellene, physician, lawyer, pioneer educator, and philanthropist.

He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to a wealthy family of merchants. His grandfather Edward Compton Howe was a member of the “Indians” of the Boston Tea Party, during the American Revolution[1]. His father Joseph Neals Howe was a shipowner and rope manufacturer who contributed to the strengthening of the US Navy during the Anglo-American War of 1812-1815[2]. Additionally, his mother Patty Gridley Howe was one of the most educated women of her time[3].

Samuel Howe received his secondary education at Boston Latin School[4]. After his graduation in 1818, at the urging of his father, he was admitted to Brown University in the State of Rhode Island, instead of Harvard University. Because of the political confrontations, Harvard was considered a stronghold of the Federalists, the opponents of the Democrats supported by the Howe family[5].

After graduating from Brown University in 1821, he enrolled at Harvard University School of Medicine and graduated in 1824. During his years at Harvard, he immersed himself in the poetry of Lord Byron, who became his idol. Through Byron’s poetry, Howe was introduced to the Philhellenic ideals, and when the Greek Revolution began, he followed closely and with particular interest the developments[6].

As soon as he received his degree from Harvard, he decided to travel to Greece and offer his services to the Greek Struggle. To finance this trip he borrowed money from his friend William Sampson. He also informed the Boston Philhellenic Committee on his intentions and received a letter of recommendation from its founding member and General Secretary, the American Philhellene diplomat, pastor, politician, and academic Edward Everett (later Secretary of State). This letter was addressed to the Greek physician, Revolutionary fighter and politician, Georgios Glarakis[7].

In September of 1824, Howe set off from the United States and arrived in Valletta, Malta in early December. He ended up in Greece at the beginning of January 1825, arriving in Nafplio by way of Monemvasia[8]. He immediately joined the Greek forces as a military doctor.

In March 1825, he went to Patras by order of the Executive Body, where he was appointed surgeon of the Greek camp[9]. Throughout his stay in Greece, he frequently sent letters to his father and his friend William Sampson, informing them of his actions and the situation in Greece[10].

In April 1825, he was appointed surgeon of the Hellenic Forces and participated in the operations in Neokastro. In Tripoli, on his way to Neokastro, he met the other important American Philhellene, George Jarvis[11], with whom he immediately became close friends. Jarvis had formed a group of 45 Greek volunteers and financed them at his own expense[12]. Both were on the front line. In fact, Jarvis and his fighters were captured, along with about 1,000 Greek revolutionaries.

With the Ottoman occupation of Neokastro on May 11, 1825, Howe himself was in danger and at the last moment escaped captivity by the Turkish-Egyptian forces. During the retreat, he arrived passed through Kalamata to Nafplio on May 23, 1825[13]. From Nafplio, at the beginning of June 1825, he went to Hydra to treat the wounded who had gathered there[14].

Howe remained in Hydra until June 11, 1825, when he went to the Mills of Argolida (Myloi) area, where a decisive battle took place. Howe participated in the fight there on June 13, 1825, with the forces of D. Ypsilantis. During the battle, he contributed to the rescue of many wounded soldiers, who were transferred to Nafplio[15]. Another notable American Philhellene and friend of Howe’s, Jonathan Peckham Miller, was distinguished for his bravery in this battle. Howe had met Miller in Boston while he was packing his bags before his trip to Greece.

 

John Elliot (1858 -1925), painting of Dr Samuel Howe, Brown University collection

 

In September 1825, Howe was placed as a surgeon in the corps of Dimitrios Kallergis and participated in the Cretan campaign, serving in Gramvousa until October 1825[16]. He then returned to Nafplio, where from January to September 1826, he served as chief physician at the War Hospital[17].

During his service at the Nafplio War Hospital, Howe served with Georgios Glarakis, who cured him when he was affected by typhus due to the hardships of war in April 1826[18].

During his illness, Samuel Howe learned of the Exodus of Missolonghi, which had taken place on April 10, 1826. This event had a catalytic effect on the soul of this romantic, young man, who wrote letters to inform the American public about the situation in Greece[19]. In fact, in a letter to his friend William Sampson, in July 1826, he defended the Greek fighters and responded to criticism against the Greeks[20].

In a characteristic letter, Howe wrote that the critics of the Greeks do not take into account that for four hundred years, Greece suffered a tyranny more overwhelming than the slavery of the West Indies. He closes, without fear of denial, noting that the modern Greeks, despite their slavery, have a more virtuous character than the Italians, the Spaniards, or the Russians and are as capable and intelligent as the rest of the Europeans[21].

After his recovery, in September 1826, Howe was appointed as the chief physician on the first steam-powered warship of the Greek Fleet, the “Karteria”. He served under orders of the important British Philhellene, captain, and national benefactor of Greece, Frank Abney Hastings. Howe followed him on all of his campaigns until June 1827, when he was replaced by the German Philhellene physician and future senior general physician of the Greek Army, Heinrich Treiber[22]. Simultaneously, from October 1826 until May 1827, Howe held the position of the general chief physician of the Greek Navy[23]. Throughout his military service, Howe never accepted a salary from the Greek administration, proving his pure Philhellenism and disinterest[24].

Throughout his time in Greece, from 1825 to 1829, Howe kept a diary, in which he clearly described the situation in Greece. His writing tells of the military operations on land and sea, the customs and traditions of the Greeks, and the action of the various personalities of the Struggle, along with their specificities, a fact which makes it an important tool for understanding the Greek Revolution.

In 1867, after returning from his final trip to Greece, Howe planned to complete a radical revision of his diary, which he considered incomplete, to include all aspects of the Greek Revolution[25]. However, his death on January 9, 1876, prevented his completion of this work. Nevertheless, Howe’s diary was translated into Greek and published, first in sequels from the newspaper “Nea Imera” in 1906, and later in whole in 1971 from Karavias Editions, under the title Diary from the Struggle 1825-1829[26].

On May 24, 1827, shortly before leaving the “Karteria,” Howe met Jonathan Peckham Miller in Nafplio. Miller and Jarvis were Howe’s two closest friends in Greece. Miller was now the general supervisor for the distribution of the humanitarian aid sent by the American Philhellenic Committees to Greece. He had recently returned to Greece, accompanying the first part of that aid which the Philhellenic Committee of New York had prepared[27].

Howe collaborated with Miller and George Jarvis (who returned to the Peloponnese after the Battle of Analatos on April 24, 1827) in the distribution of the humanitarian aid from June to the end of October 1827. Then, Howe traveled to the United States, to inform the public and conduct fundraisers for the Greeks[28].

In January 1828, he remained briefly at the Valletta disinfection center in Malta, then under British rule (which was the stopover of his voyage to the United States). There he met the American Philhellene, George Brown, also an officer of the “Karteria” and returned with him to America. They also accompanied orphaned children from Greece, who were adopted by American families and other organizations[29].

One of these children was the future doctor, Christoforos P. Kastanis, who had survived the massacre of Chios in 1822 (he later wrote in 1851 the book The Greek Exile, Or, a Narrative of the Captivity and Escape of Christophorus Plato Castanis)[30]. This book describes Howe’s actions to save as many orphaned children from Greece as possible.

Upon his return to America, he was feverishly active in conducting fundraisers to raise financial and material aid for the struggling Greece, which was plagued by famine. He toured most of the States and organized events in favor of the Greeks. During these events, he presented, among other things, the personal items and weapons of Lord Byron.

 

Personal items of Lord Byron handed over to Dr Samuel Howe by the American Philhellene and Byron’s aid de camp, George Jarvis (SHP collection).

 

His actions helped raise 60,000 dollars and allowed the purchase of significant quantities of food, clothing, and medication for the Greek people, which were shipped to Greece on the ships “Herald” and “Suffolk” in October 1828 and January 1829, respectively[31]. At the same time, at the end of 1828, he published his book Historical Sketch of the Greek Revolution, in which he informed the American public about the situation in Greece[32]. This book was the second best-selling in the United States after Lord Byron’s emblematic Pilgrimage of Childe Harold.

 

Dr Samuel Howe’s book “Historical Sketch of the Greek Revolution”, first edition (SHP collection).

 

Howe believed that money, clothing, and food should not be distributed as a mere aid, but as a contribution for creative work, beneficial to Greece and the Greeks[33].

Howe returned to Greece on the ship, “Suffolk,” [34], in January 1829, accompanying the aid from the American Philhellenes. Upon his arrival, he declared that Greece was his idol and the deprivations he suffered for her, instead of disappointing him, had made her future fortune more significant for him and it would be a good reward if her struggles, offer him even the minimum benefit[35].

As he coordinated the distribution of aid, Howe also contributed in other ways. For example, he founded the colony of Washingtonia for Greek refugees from Asia Minor, Crete, Syros, and Athens in the Examilia of the Isthmus of Corinth. In this, he was assisted by the British Philhellene general Thomas Gordon and the noteworthy Bavarian Philhellene general Karl Wilhelm von Heideck, later regent of King Othon of Greece. The plan was also approved by I. Kapodistrias and by the early 1830s, 40 families had already settled in Washingtonia[36].

In addition to the colony of Washingtonia, Howe helped to establish a school in Megara, in the summer of 1829. He also undertook the design, funding, and implementation of another major project. The construction of the waterfront and the port of Aegina (then capital of the Greek state). During this time, he also played a key role in the design of a hospital and a girls’ orphanage in the area of ​​Aegina. And finally, he distributed seeds and agricultural tools to the farmers of Attica[37].

In July 1830, Howe was afflicted by malaria and left Greece[38]. He went to Paris to recover and continue his studies. There, in January 1832, he completed postgraduate studies in medicine. Simultaneously with his studies, he was an active member of the Polish Committee of Paris, which was preparing the Polish struggle for independence from Russia and Prussia[39]. After the defeat of the Russian defeat of the Poles and the relocation of populations to Prussia in the spring of 1832, he undertook the distribution of funds and supplies for the relief of Polish refugees. On a trip to Berlin, he was arrested by Prussian police as a collaborator of the rebels. However, while he was detained, he managed to destroy the evidence and elements of his links with the Polish resistance[40]. He was released through the intervention of the US ambassador to Paris[41].

Howe returned to Boston for good in July 1832 and founded the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum for the Education of the Blind. He was inspired by the action of his friend, Dr. John Dix Fisher, who had started the organization to care for the blind[42]. By January 1833, the funds available for the operation of the institution had been exhausted. The state of Massachusetts recognized the foundation’s contribution and the significant improvement it has achieved in the living standards of the blind. In 1839, the institution was relocated to a new location in southern Boston, donated by the former US Army Colonel, Thomas Handasyd Perkins. In 1877, it was renamed School for the Blind[43].

Howe ran the institute and was instrumental in turning it into one of the most important charities in the United States, eventually receiving federal support[44]. Also, he was the first to introduce an embossed lettering alphabet for the blind in the USA, while he also took care of the establishment of a printing house within the school. Many graduates of the school, thanks to Howe’s guidance, became members of the teaching staff themselves, such as the deafblind Laura Bridgman, one of Howe’s first students[45].

On April 24, 1843, Samuel Howe married Julia Ward, the daughter of a wealthy New York banker Samuel Ward and Julia Rush Cutler Ward[46]. Julia was abolitionist, she composed the march of the American Civil War “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” and later became a key figure in the women’s suffrage movement[47].

Together they had 6 children:

  • Julia Romana Howe (1844-1866), wife of the Greek scholar and Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Athens, Michael Anagnos (1837-1906), who succeeded Dr Howe as the director of the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum[48].
  • Florence Marion Howe (1845-1922), author, who was also involved in the women’s suffrage movement, wife of the New York lawyer David Prescott Hall (1845-1907). Florence Marion Howe was honored with the Pulitzer Prize in 1917 [49].
  • Henry Howe (1848-1922). Metallurgist and resident of New York[50].
  • Laura Elizabeth Howe (1850-1943). Author of more than 90 books, Pulitzer Prize winner in 1917, and wife of the American industrialist Henry Richards (1848-1949)[51].
  • Maud Howe (1855-1948). Writer, who was also honored with the Pulitzer Prize in 1917 and wife of the British painter John Elliott (1858-1925)[52].
  • Samuel Gridley Howe, Jr. (1858- 1863). He died at the age of 5[53].

In 1844, Howe returned to Greece, to offer assistance to the Cretan refugees of the Cretan Revolution of 1841[54]. For his contribution as a Philhellene, but also to the society as a philanthropist, he was honored by the Greek government with the Golden Cross of the Order of the Redeemer[55]. At the same time, he was nominated to receive the Silver Commendation of the Struggle for his services during the Greek Revolution (the highest distinction awarded to leading figures of the Greek War of Independence)[56].

Upon receiving the award from the Greek state, Dr Howe modestly wrote to the Greek politician and former Foreign Minister of Greece Iakovos Rizos Neroulos that his greatest reward was the recognition from the Greek people of his contribution to the struggle for freedom and charity. He also stressed that his interest in the future fate of Greece was equal to the interest for the course of his homeland[57].

In 1846, Howe ran for the US Congress with the Whig Party, but was defeated by the lawyer Robert Charles Winthrop[58]. In 1848, he collaborated with the educator Dorothea Dix, a pioneer in the education of the insane. With the help of a 2,500 dollar fund, which was approved from the Massachusetts State Legislature, he founded the “Massachusetts School for Idiot and Feeble-Minded Youth,” one of the first educational communities for people with disabilities internationally[59]. However, the success of this educational community led some to suggest that trainees remain permanently at the institution. Howe objected to this, he believed that the segregation and the isolation of these people from the rest of society would be fatal to their situation[60].

Howe was also one of the founders of the Boston newspaper “Daily Commonwealth”, which openly supported the abolition of slavery and was published from 1851 to 1853. His wife, Julia, supported him in this endeavor and editing of the paper[61]. He also funded the work of the Kansas Committee in Massachusetts, a political movement centered in the American South that opposed slavery[62].

His home in South Boston was one of the “Underground Railroad” stations, a secret network of shelters and routes used by fugitive slaves from the American South making their way to freedom in British-administered Canada, where slavery had been abolished[63].

During the American Civil War, 1861-1865, Howe served as chief physician of the Sanitary Commission of the United States Department of War. The task of this Commission was to improve hygiene and reduce the incidence of diseases, such as dysentery, typhus, and malaria in the camps[64].

In 1863, he was appointed to the American Freedmen’s Inquiry Commission for the Rights of African Americans. In this capacity, he traveled to the South and to Canada, in order to explore their living conditions and to secure their rights. Even in British Canada, where slavery had been abolished, the formerly enslaved continued to encounter difficulties. However, compared to the American South, their situation was better, thanks to the protection of their political, labor, and educational rights by the state. Following the investigation in the South and Canada, Howe prepared a detailed report which was submitted to the US Department of War and the US Congress. This report, which was titled, The Refugees from Slavery in Canada West, helped to establish the Freedmen’s Bureau, a governmental organization dedicated to providing support throughout the transition from slavery to freedom[65].

Moreover, Howe was in 1863 a founding member of the State Board of Charities of Massachusetts, and its president until 1874[66].

With the end of the American Civil War in 1865, Howe proposed the adoption of a progressive tax system. This system aimed at calculating taxes based on income, with the aim to cover inequalities after the liberation of slaves and the financing of charity[67].

Howe traveled with his family to Greece for the final time in 1866, bringing supplies for the relief of Cretan refugees during the Cretan Revolution against the Ottomans. He went to Crete to rescue as many Cretans as possible and also planned a technical school in Athens, to provide professional training to the refugees[68].

 

Cretan knife, offer of the Cretans to the great Philhellene Dr Samuel Howe during his stay in Greece in 1866 (SHP collection).

 

During Howe’s trip to Greece in 1866, his daughter Julia Romana Howe, who accompanied him, met the Greek Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Athens and scholar, originating from Papigo, Epirus, Michael Anagnostopoulos (Michael Anagnos) (1837-1906), who was her father’s secretary. They were married in Boston in December 1870. In 1868, Michael Anagnostopoulos was secretary of the Cretan Care Committee[69]. He eventually was appointed director of the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum in January 1876, after Howe’s death until the end of his own life in June 1906[70]. . In his will, he left a significant amount of money for the establishment of schools in Epirus, Greece[71].

When he returned to the United States in 1867, Howe wrote a report on the situation of Cretan refugees to raise awareness in the American public opinion[72]. From 1868 to 1869 he was the chairman of the Cretan Care Committee, which was founded in Boston[73].

In 1870, he became a member of the committee set up by US President Ulysses S. Grant for the annexation of Santo Domingo to the United States. This plan did not work out, because of the actions of Senator Charles Sumner, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who feared a resumption of the slavery regime[74].

Samuel Gridley Howe died in Boston on January 9, 1876 and was buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In February 1876, a concert of Philhellenic music was given at the Boston Concert Hall in his honor[75].

In 1913, the Howe family donated a significant part of his archive to the Harvard University Library. In 1917, Howe‘s daughters Florence Marion Howe Hall, Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards, and Maud Howe Elliott were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for their collective work Julia Ward Howe 1819-1910. This work is primarily a biography of Julia Ward Howe, but it also includes a detailed biography of Samuel Gridley Howe and is inspired by a philhellenic spirit[76].

In 1920, Howe’s daughter, Maud Howe Elliott, donated Lord Byron’s helmet to the National History Museum and was awarded the Cross of the Order of Redeemer by the Greek state.

The Greek state honored Samuel Gridley Howe, naming streets after him in Athens, Heraklion, and Chania, as well as erecting monuments in Athens (close to the residence of the American ambassador), in Tripoli, and on the island of Aegina, which was placed in February 2019.

The United States honored Samuel Gridley Howe by naming after a US Navy warship “Samuel G. Howe”, which operated during World War II[77]. In 1974, his home in Boston was memorialized[78].

The Greek people and SHP honor the memory of the glorious American Philhellene doctor, humanist, and national benefactor of Greece, Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe. Howe, in addition to being an emblematic figure of Philhellenism, is the man who organized the first international mission of humanitarian aid, which offered relief to the new Greek state. Finally, this great man, constitutes with his action, an example for the defense of the Greek-centric western civilization and human rights.

 

References

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[2] Howe Elliott, Maud, “Three Generations with Illustrations”, εκδ. Little, Brown & Company, Βοστώνη, 1923, σελ. 35.
[3] Richards, Laura E. Howe, “Letters and Journals of Samuel Gridley Howe”, εκδ. Dana Estes & Company, Βοστώνη, 1909, σελ. 13.
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[8] Ward Howe, Julia, “Memoir of Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe”, εκδ. Albert J. Wright, Βοστώνη, 1876.
[9] Βαγενάς, Θάνος, Δημητρακοπούλου, Ευρυδίκη, “Αμερικανοί Φιλέλληνες, Εθελοντές στο Εικοσιένα”, εκδ. Μάτι, Αθήνα, 2017, σελ. 73 – 74.
[10] Βλ. στο ίδιο.
[11] Βλ. στο ίδιο, σελ. 74.
[12] Μαζαράκης- Αινιάν, Ι. Κ., “Αμερικανικός Φιλελληνισμός 1821- 1831”, εκδ. Ιστορική και Εθνολογική Εταιρεία της Ελλάδος, Αθήνα, αχρονολόγητο, σελ. 30.
[13] Σπηλιάδης, Νικόλαος, “Απομνημονεύματα ήτοι Ιστορία της Επαναστάσεως των Ελλήνων”, εκδ. Ινστιτούτο Ανάπτυξης “Χαρίλαος Τρικούπης”, Αθήνα, 2007, β’ τόμος, σελ. 203.
[14] Βαγενάς, Θάνος, Δημητρακοπούλου, Ευρυδίκη, “Αμερικανοί Φιλέλληνες, Εθελοντές στο Εικοσιένα”, εκδ. Μάτι, Αθήνα, 2017, σελ. 77.2
[15] Μακρυγιάννης, Ιωάννης, “Αρχεία Νεωτέρας Ιστορίας. Αρχείον του στρατηγού Ιωάννου Μακρυγιάννη”, επιμ. Ι. Βλαχογιάννης, Αθήνα, εκδ. Σ. Κ. Βλαστός, 1907, σελ. 214 – 215.
[16] Βαγενάς, Θάνος, Δημητρακοπούλου, Ευρυδίκη, “Αμερικανοί Φιλέλληνες, Εθελοντές στο Εικοσιένα”, εκδ. Μάτι, Αθήνα, 2017, σελ. 78 – 80.
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[22] Treiber, Heinrich, “Αναμνήσεις από την Ελλάδα 1822-1828”, επιμ. δρ. Χρήστος Ν. Αποστολίδης, ιδ. εκδ., Αθήνα, 1960.
[23] Βαγενάς, Θάνος, Δημητρακοπούλου, Ευρυδίκη, “Αμερικανοί Φιλέλληνες, Εθελοντές στο Εικοσιένα”, εκδ. Μάτι, Αθήνα, 2017, σελ. 82.
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[30] Dakin, Douglas, “British and American Philhellenes during the war of Greek Independence, 1821-1833”, εκδ. Εταιρεία Μακεδονικών Σπουδών – Ίδρυμα Μελετών Χερσονήσου του Αίμου, Θεσσαλονίκη, 1955.
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[35] Λάζος, Χρήστος Δ., “ Η Αμερική και ο ρόλος της στην Επανάσταση του 1821”, εκδ. Παπαζήσης, Αθήνα, 1984, β’ τόμος, σελ. 143.
[36] Gordon, Thomas, “Ιστορία της Ελληνικής Επαναστάσεως”, μτφρ. Αλέξανδρος Παπαδιαμάντης, εισαγωγή Αγλαΐα Κάσδαγλη, επιμ. Λαμπρινή Τριανταφυλλοπούλου, εκδ. Μ.Ι.Ε.Τ., Αθήνα, 2015, γ’ τόμος.
[37] Μαζαράκης- Αινιάν, Ι. Κ., “Αμερικανικός Φιλελληνισμός 1821- 1831”, εκδ. Ιστορική και Εθνολογική Εταιρεία της Ελλάδος, Αθήνα, αχρονολόγητο, σελ. 34.
[38] Βλ. στο ίδιο.
[39] Richards, Laura E. (Howe), “Letters and Journals of Samuel Gridley Howe”, εκδ. Dana Estes & Company, Βοστώνη, 1909, σελ. 23.
[40] Trent, James W., “The Manliest Man: Samuel G. Howe and the Contours of Nineteenth-century American Reform”, εκδ. University of Massachusetts Press, Βοστώνη, 2012, σελ. 55-57.
[41] Βλ. στο ίδιο.
[42] French, Kimberly, “Perkins School for the Blind “, εκδ.Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, 2004, σελ. 9 -11.
[43] Βλ. στο ίδιο.
[44] Βλ. στο ίδιο.
[45] Gitter, Elizabeth, ”The Imprisoned Guest: Samuel Howe and Laura Bridgman, the Original Deaf-Blind Girl”, εκδ. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Νέα Υόρκη, 2001, σελ. 23- 26.
[46] Hall, Florence Howe, “Julia Ward Howe and the Woman Suffrage Movement”, εκδ. Dana Estes & Company, Βοστώνη, 1913.
[47] Βλ. στο ίδιο.
[48] Συλλογικό, Εγκυκλοπαίδεια “Δομή”, εκδ. Δομή, Αθήνα, 2003, 2ος τόμος, σελ.647.
[49] Brennan, Elizabeth A., Clarage, Elizabeth C., “Who’s who of Pulitzer Prize Winners”, εκδ. Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport, 1999.
[50] Βλ. στο ίδιο.
[51] Ziegler, Valarie H., “Diva Julia: The Public Romance and Private Agony of Julia Ward Howe”, εκδ. Continuum International Publishing Group, Νέα Υόρκη, 2003, σελ. 11.
[52] Βλ. στο ίδιο.
[53] Βλ. στο ίδιο.
[54] Λάζος, Χρήστος Δ. , “ Η Αμερική και ο ρόλος της στην Επανάσταση του 1821”, εκδ. Παπαζήσης, Αθήνα, 1984, β’ τόμος, σελ. 130.
[55] Μαζαράκης-Αινιάν, Ι. Κ., “Αμερικανικός Φιλελληνισμός 1821- 1831”, εκδ. Ιστορική και Εθνολογική Εταιρεία της Ελλάδος, Αθήνα, αχρονολόγητο, σελ. 19.
[56] Βαγενάς, Θάνος, Δημητρακοπούλου, Ευρυδίκη, “Αμερικανοί Φιλέλληνες, Εθελοντές στο Εικοσιένα”, εκδ. Μάτι, Αθήνα, 2017, σελ. 84.
[57] “Samuel Gridley Howe’s Archives”, Harvard University Library, Cambridge.
[58] Συλλογικό, “The New International Encyclopedia”, εκδ. Dodd, Mead and Company, Νέα Υόρκη, 10ος τόμος, 1905.
[59] Pfeiffer, David, “Samuel Gridley Howe and ‘Schools for the Feebleminded”, εκδ. περ. “Ragged Edge”, Louisville, 2003.
[60] Howe, Samuel G., “In ceremonies on laying the corner-stone of the New York State institution for the blind, at Batavia, Genessee County, New York”, εκδ. Henry Todd, Νέα Υόρκη, 1866.
[61] Richards, Laura E. Howe, “Two Noble Lives”, εκδ. Dana Estes & Company, Βοστώνη, 1911.
[62] Βλ. στο ίδιο.
[63] Siebert, Wilbur H., “The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom”, εκδ. MacMillan & Co., Λονδίνο, 1898, σελ. 81.
[64] Adams, George Worthington, “Doctors in Blue: The Medical History of the Union Army in the Civil War “, εκδ. Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, 1996.
[65] Howe, Samuel G., “The refugees from slavery in Canada West”, εκδ. Wright & Potter, Βοστώνη, 1864.
[66] Schwartz, Harold, “Samuel Gridley Howe, Social Reformer, 1801-1876”, εκδ. Harvard University Press, Βοστώνη, 1956.
[67] Cumbler, John T., “From Abolition to Rights for All: The Making of a Reform Community in the Nineteenth Century”, University of Pennsylvania Press, Φιλαδέλφεια, 2008.
[68] Λάζος, Χρήστος Δ. , “ Η Αμερική και ο ρόλος της στην Επανάσταση του 1821”, εκδ. Παπαζήσης, Αθήνα, 1984, β’ τόμος, σελ. 131.
[69] Benjamin Sanborn, Franklin, “ Michael Anagnos, 1837-1906”, εκδ. Wright and Potter Printing Company, Βοστώνη, 1907, σελ. 10.
[70] Burgess, Thomas, “Greeks in America: An Account of Their Coming Progress Customs, Living and Aspirations”, εκδ. Sherman, French & Company, Βοστώνη, 1913, σελ. 132.
[71] Συλλογικό, Εγκυκλοπαίδεια “Δομή”, εκδ. Δομή, Αθήνα, 2003, 2ος τόμος, σελ.647.
[72] Barth, Wilhelm, Kehrig- Korn, Max, “Die Philhellenenzeit. Von der Mitte des 18. Jahrhunderts bis zur Ermordung Kapodistrias’ am 9. Oktober 1831”, εκδ. Max Hueber Verlag, Μόναχο, 1960, σελ. 139.
[73]
[74] Ruchames, Louis. “Charles Sumner and American Historiography”, εκδ. περ. “Journal of Negro History”, Σικάγο, 1953, τεύχος 38.
[75] Trent, James W., “The Manliest Man: Samuel G. Howe and the Contours of Nineteenth-century American Reform”, εκδ. University of Massachusetts Press, Βοστώνη, 2012.
[76] Λαγουδάκης, Χαρίλαος, “Samuel Gridley Howe”, εκδ. περ. “ Δελτίον Αποφοίτων Κολλεγίου Αθηνών”, Αθήνα, 1938, β’ τόμος, τεύχος 2, σελ. 5.
[77] Davies, James, “Specifications (As-Built)”, εκδ. περ. “ WW2 Ships”, Νέα Υόρκη, 2004, σελ. 23.
[78] Trent, James W., “The Manliest Man: Samuel G. Howe and the Contours of Nineteenth-century American Reform”, εκδ. University of Massachusetts Press, Βοστώνη, 2012.

 

Bibliography – Sources

  • Barth, Wilhelm, Kehrig- Korn, Max, “Die Philhellenenzeit. Von der Mitte des 18. Jahrhunderts bis zur Ermordung Kapodistrias’ am 9. Oktober 1831”, εκδ. Max Hueber Verlag, Μόναχο, 1960.
  • Richards, Laura E. Howe, “Letters and Journals of Samuel Gridley Howe”, εκδ. Dana Estes & Company, Βοστώνη, 1909.
  • Ziegler, Valarie H., “Diva Julia: The Public Romance and Private Agony of Julia Ward Howe”, εκδ. Continuum International Publishing Group, Νέα Υόρκη, 2003.
  • Howe, Samuel G., “In ceremonies on laying the corner-stone of the New York State institution for the blind, at Batavia, Genessee County, New York”, εκδ. Henry Todd, Νέα Υόρκη, 1866.
  • Συλλογικό, “The New International Encyclopedia”, εκδ. Dodd, Mead and Company, Νέα Υόρκη, 10ος τόμος, 1905.
  • Brennan, Elizabeth A., Clarage, Elizabeth C., “Who’s who of Pulitzer Prize Winners”, εκδ. Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport, 1999.
  • Συλλογικό, Εγκυκλοπαίδεια “Δομή”, εκδ. Δομή, Αθήνα, 2003, 2ος τόμος.
  • Gordon, Thomas, “Ιστορία της Ελληνικής Επαναστάσεως”, μτφρ. Αλέξανδρος Παπαδιαμάντης, εισαγωγή Αγλαΐα Κάσδαγλη, επιμ. Λαμπρινή Τριανταφυλλοπούλου, εκδ. Μ.Ι.Ε.Τ., Αθήνα, 2015, γ’ τόμος.
  • Treiber, Heinrich, “Αναμνήσεις από την Ελλάδα 1822-1828”, επιμ. δρ. Χρήστος Ν. Αποστολίδης, ιδ. εκδ., Αθήνα, 1960.
  • Trent, James W., “The Manliest Man: Samuel G. Howe and the Contours of Nineteenth-century American Reform”, εκδ. University of Massachusetts Press, Βοστώνη, 2012.
  • Dakin, Douglas, “British and American Philhellenes during the war of Greek Independence, 1821-1833”, εκδ. Εταιρεία Μακεδονικών Σπουδών – Ίδρυμα Μελετών Χερσονήσου του Αίμου, Θεσσαλονίκη, 1955.
  • Βαγενάς, Θάνος, Δημητρακοπούλου, Ευρυδίκη, “Αμερικανοί Φιλέλληνες, Εθελοντές στο Εικοσιένα”, εκδ. Μάτι, Αθήνα, 2017
  • Σπηλιάδης, Νικόλαος, “Απομνημονεύματα ήτοι Ιστορία της Επαναστάσεως των Ελλήνων”, εκδ. Ινστιτούτο Ανάπτυξης “Χαρίλαος Τρικούπης”, Αθήνα, 2007, β’ τόμος.
  • Ward Howe, Julia, “Memoir of Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe”, εκδ. Albert J. Wright, Βοστώνη, 1876.
  • Μακρυγιάννης, Ιωάννης, “Αρχεία Νεωτέρας Ιστορίας. Αρχείον του στρατηγού Ιωάννου Μακρυγιάννη”, επιμ. Ι. Βλαχογιάννης, Αθήνα, εκδ. Σ. Κ. Βλαστός, 1907.
  • Howe Elliott, Maud, “Three Generations with Illustrations”, εκδ. Little, Brown & Company, Βοστώνη, 1923.
  • Siebert, Wilbur H., “The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom”, εκδ. MacMillan & Co., Λονδίνο, 1898.
  • Pfeiffer, David, “Samuel Gridley Howe and ‘Schools for the Feebleminded”, εκδ. περ. “Ragged Edge”, Louisville, 2003.
  • Adams, George Worthington, “Doctors in Blue: The Medical History of the Union Army in the Civil War“, εκδ. Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, 1996.
  • Howe, Samuel G., “The refugees from slavery in Canada West”, εκδ. Wright & Potter, Βοστώνη, 1864.
  • Cumbler, John T., “From Abolition to Rights for All: The Making of a Reform Community in the Nineteenth Century”, University of Pennsylvania Press, Φιλαδέλφεια, 2008.
  • Hall, Florence Howe, “Julia Ward Howe and the Woman Suffrage Movement”, εκδ. Dana Estes & Company, Βοστώνη, 1913.
  • Schwartz, Harold, “Samuel Gridley Howe, Social Reformer, 1801-1876”, εκδ. Harvard University Press, Βοστώνη, 1956.
  • Richards, Laura E. Howe, “Two Noble Lives”, εκδ. Dana Estes & Company, Βοστώνη, 1911.
  • Μαζαράκης-Αινιάν, Ι. Κ., “Αμερικανικός Φιλελληνισμός 1821- 1831”, εκδ. Ιστορική και Εθνολογική Εταιρεία της Ελλάδος, Αθήνα, αχρονολόγητο.
  • Ruchames, Louis, “Charles Sumner and American Historiography”, εκδ. περ. “Journal of Negro History”, Σικάγο, 1953, τεύχος 38.
  • Gitter, Elizabeth, ”The Imprisoned Guest: Samuel Howe and Laura Bridgman, the Original Deaf-Blind Girl”, εκδ. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Νέα Υόρκη, 2001.
  • French, Kimberly, “Perkins School for the Blind“, εκδ. Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, 2004.
  • Λάζος, Χρήστος Δ., “Η Αμερική και ο ρόλος της στην Επανάσταση του 1821”, εκδ. Παπαζήσης, Αθήνα, 1984, β’ τόμος.
  • Λαγουδάκης, Χαρίλαος, “Samuel Gridley Howe”, εκδ. περ. “Δελτίον Αποφοίτων Κολλεγίου Αθηνών”, Αθήνα, 1938, β’ τόμος, τεύχος 2.
  • Davies, James, “Specifications (As-Built)”, εκδ. περ. “WW2 Ships”, Νέα Υόρκη, 2004.
  • Benjamin Sanborn, Franklin, “Michael Anagnos, 1837-1906”, εκδ. Wright and Potter Printing Company, Βοστώνη, 1907.
  • Burgess, Thomas, “Greeks in America: An Account of Their Coming Progress Customs, Living and Aspirations”, εκδ. Sherman, French & Company, Βοστώνη, 1913.
  • Larrabee, Stephen A., “Hellas observed, the American Experience of Greece 1775- 1865”, εκδ. New York University Press, Νέα Υόρκη, 1957.

 

 

Ludwig Lange, was a German architect and designer, born on March 22, 1808 in Darmstadt. His father, Christian Friedrich (1759–1840), was a clerk of the Court. Ludwig had two younger brothers with whom he cooperated. They also followed an artistic path; Gustav Georg became a painter of the Royal Court and Julius a landscape painter.

Ludwig Lange abandoned High School at a very young age, and studied under the architect and politician Georg August Lerch (1792-1857) between 1823 and 1826. He then studied at the University of Gießen and collaborated with the architect Georg Moller (1784-1852). From 1830 onwards he lived in Munich, and began experimenting with his brothers with perspective designs and drawings of buildings and monuments, an activity he would continue and perfect in the following decades. His work stands out both for his painting talent and for the excellent perception of the space he had as an architect.

An important acquaintance in his life was that with the landscape painter, Carl Rottmann (1797-1850), in Munich. He studied with him between 1830 and 1834 and developed a friendship relationship. Lange accompanied Rottmann in Greece, when the Bavarian monarch Ludwig I instructed him in 1834 to travel there and enrich his repertoire for the completion of a series of Greek works. During this difficult journey, Lange was a valuable consultant for Rottmann´s architectural plans. Based on the experiences he gained in Greece, Lange wrote the “Reiseberichte aus Griechenland” (Travel correspondences from Greece, 1835).

However, apart from his association with his teacher, Lange was distinguished in Greece for his own talents. King Othon hired him as his “Expert Civil Engineer” (Baurat), after Lange presented his architectural proposal for the creation of a “Church of the Savior” (Erlöserkirche). The project was not implemented due to financial difficulties. However, he designed other important buildings for the new capital of the Greek state. The initial proposal for the design of the National Archaeological Museum was his own, but the architects who completed the project, namely Ernst Ziller, Panagis Kalkos and Armodios Vlachos, intervened in his original plans. The newly established Royal High School of Athens was implemented based on Lange´s plans, where he also taught Design since 1835. The construction of the royal palaces at the foot of Lycabettus, as Lange suggested, was not found as the most appropriate solution.

During his stay in Greece he created a number of drawings and watercolors, which he later processed as oil paintings. About 150 of his paintings survived. His works gained appreciation by his colleagues, such as Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781-1841). Like his teacher Rottmann, Lange created landscapes of the historical sites he visited (Sikyon, Corinth, Athens and its ancient port, Piraeus). On a later trip to Greece, it is reported that he visited Hydra and the Cyclades with the author Ludwig Steub (1812-1888).

His works are distinguished by realism, accuracy, and the successful perspective rendering of places and buildings. He did not refer a lot to historical or romantic elements. However, in his watercolor “The Acropolis of Athens in the time of Pericles” (Die Akropolis von Athen zur Zeit des Perikles, 1835), he painted an imaginary reconstruction of the ancient Acropolis – not the modern image of its hill.

 

The Acropolis of Athens at the time of Pericles, 1835

 

He also attempted to depict contemporary Athens in his watercolor “Athens and the Acropolis from the Northwest” (Athen und die Akropolis von Nordwesten, 1836), although it is possible that the painter did not capture the landscape he saw with absolute accuracy.

 

Athens and the Acropolis from the Northwest, 1836

 

The oil painting of “The Entrance to the free Athens” conveys his love for classical Greece once again, depicting the area, where the ancient Greek and Roman markets stood. This work was completed by Lange in 1838, after his return to Munich.

 

“The Entrance to free Athens”, 1838

 

From 1839 onwards Lange worked on various projects commissioned by Ludwig, and from 1847 onwards he took over the chair of Architecture of the Royal Academy of Munich. He traveled to Germany and created various designs from prominent German cities, which were published in architectural magazines. At the same time, he designed some vignettes with scenes of the Athenian landscape for the “Panorama of Athens” (Munich, 1841) by the painter Ferdinand Stademann (1791-1873), who had also visited Greece after Ludwig’sinvitation. Lange created many architectural plans, including a “palace for the heir to the throne” in Munich (Kronprinz-Palais, 1845) and the Nikolaikirche (Church of St. Nicholas) in Hamburg. The famous Museum of Fine Arts in Leipzig has also been designed by Ludwig Lange. In 1858 Lange published in Munich the work “Die griechischen Landschaftsgemälde von Karl Rottmann in der neuen königlichen Pinakothek zu München” (The Greek Landscapes of Karl Rottmann in the New Royal Gallery in Munich) which describes the works of his teacher.

Ludwig Lange died on March 31, 1868 in Munich, where his grave stands today. His works helped to promote the image of Greece in Europe.

SHP honors the Philhellene architect and painter, Ludwig Lange, who laid the foundation for the architectural design of the National Archaeological Museum, and created a number of works for Greece, disseminating the image of the country internationally.

 

Sources and Bibliography

  • Fuhrmeister, Christian; Jooss, Birgit (Hrsg.), Isar/Athen Griechische Künstler in München – Deutsche Künstler in Griechenland, Μόναχο
  • Καγιαδάκη, Μαρία, Οι ζωγράφοι Γεώργιος και Φίλιππος Μαργαρίτης. Τα πρώτα καλλιτεχνικά εργαστήρια στην Αθήνα του 19ου αιώνα. Διδακτορική διατριβή, Αριστοτέλειο Πανεπιστήμιο Θεσσαλονίκης, 2008.