Officers of the Prussian Cavalry during the Napoleonic Wars. Left officer of the Cuirassier Regiment of the Prussian Royal Guard
Wilhelm Bellier de Launoy (? – 1826), was a German officer and Philhellene.
He served as an officer in the Cuirassier Regiment of the Prussian Royal Guard [1], during the Napoleonic Wars and fought against the French.
At the beginning of the Greek Revolution of 1821, he was a civilian living in Marseille, France. He was one of the first to join the Philhellenic Committee of Marseille, which he strengthened in various ways with his work.
One of the missions that the Committee assigned to him, led him in the Autumn of 1821, to move for the first time to Greece. Among others, he fought there in December in the Siege of Athens under the command of Demetrius Ypsilanti.[2].
He then moved to England and joined the Philhellenic Committee of London. In 1823 he followed the British colonel and important Philhellene, Leicester Stanhope on a trip to Greece, with a final destination Messolonghi.[3]. The journey began with a tour of Europe, with stops in Darmstadt, Germany, Zurich, Bern and Geneva in Switzerland, and Genoa in Italy. There, the two men met representatives of the local Philhellenic committees. Stanhope was also a member of the Philhellenic Committee of London, and was assigned (along with Lord Byron and Lazaros Kountouriotis) commissioner to manage the money of the first loan to Greece.
During his stay in Messolonghi, Bellier wrote a book titled “Einige Worte über Griechenland”, which describes the daily life and living conditions of Greek and Philhellene fighters.[4].
In mid-1823 he returned briefly to England. On January 11, 1824 he followed the distinguished Philhellene Alexander Kolbe [5] (;-1860) and travelled with him again to Messolonghi [6]. There he fought with him in the campaign against Omer Vryonis in the plain of Ligovitsa[7].
During his second stay in Messolonghi, Bellier de Launoy married a Greek woman[8] and lived there until the Exodus.
His wife was the sister of Altana Inglesi, who was the wife of the prominent Swiss Philhellene and publisher of the ‘’Hellenic Chronicles’’, John Jacob Meyer[9].
During the last siege of the city, Bellier de Launoy fought to defend it. In the end, he participated in the Exodus of Messolonghi and fell fighting heroically on April 10, 1826.[10].
SHP honours the memory of Wilhelm Bellier de Launoy, a heroic Philhellene, who fought for the Independence of Greece, finally sacrificing his own life.
Memorial in Messolonghi, dedicated to the German Philhellenes
References
[1] Περιοδικό “Εβδομάς”, Αθήνα, Έτος Α’(1884), τόμος Α’ αρ. 1. (χωρίς ημερ.) ως και αρ. 27, 2 Σεπτεμβρίου 1884, εκδ. Κορίννη, Αθήνα, 1884, σελ.8.
[2] Bellier de Launoy, Wilhelm, “Einige Worte über Griechenland“, εκδ. Maurer, Μόναχο, 1823.
[3] St Clair, William, “That Greece Might Still Be Free. The Philhellenes in the War of Independence”, εκδ. Open Book Publishers, Λονδίνο, 2008, σελ.159.
[4] Bellier de Launoy, Wilhelm, “Einige Worte über Griechenland“, εκδ. Maurer, Μόναχο, 1823. Millingen, Julius, “Memoirs of the Affairs of Greece”, εκδ. John Rodwell, Λονδίνο, 1831.
[5] Βλ. στο ίδιο, σελ. 160-161.
[6] Τράιμπερ, Ερρίκος, “Αναμνήσεις από την Ελλάδα 1822-1828”, επιμ. δρ. Χρήστος Ν. Αποστολίδης, ιδ. εκδ., Αθήνα, 1960, σελ.59.
[7] Περιοδικό “Εβδομάς”, Αθήνα, Έτος Α’(1884), τόμος Α’ αρ. 1. (χωρίς ημερ.) ως και αρ. 27, 2 Σεπτεμβρίου 1884, εκδ. Κορίννη, Αθήνα, 1884, σελ.59.
[8] Βλ. στο ίδιο.
[9] Ευαγγελάτος, Χρήστος, ‘’Οι Φιλέλληνες’’, ιδ. έκδ., Μεσολόγγι, 1937.
[10] Βλ. στο ίδιο.
Bibliography – Sources
- Περιοδικό “Εβδομάς”, Αθήνα, Έτος Α’(1884), τόμος Α’ αρ. 1. (χωρίς ημερ.) ως και αρ. 27, 2 Σεπτεμβρίου 1884, εκδ. Κορίννη, Αθήνα, 1884.
- St Clair, William, “That Greece Might Still Be Free. The Philhellenes in the War of Independence”, εκδ. Open Book Publishers, Λονδίνο, 2008.
- Bellier de Launoy, Wilhelm, “Einige Worte über Griechenland“, εκδ. Maurer, Μόναχο, 1823.
- Millingen, Julius, “Memoirs of the Affairs of Greece”, εκδ. John Rodwell, Λονδίνο, 1831.
- Τράιμπερ, Ερρίκος, “Αναμνήσεις από την Ελλάδα 1822-1828”, επιμ. δρ. Χρήστος Ν. Αποστολίδης, ιδ. εκδ., Αθήνα, 1960.
- Ευαγγελάτος, Χρήστος, ‘’Οι Φιλέλληνες’’, ιδ. έκδ., Μεσολόγγι, 1937.
