Anthimos Gazis | |
|---|---|
 Anthimos Gazis | |
| Born | 1758 |
| Died | 24 June 1828(1828-06-24) (aged 69–70) |
| Other names | Anastasios Gazalis Anastasios Gazis |
| Occupation(s) | Eastern Orthodoxarchimandrite, cartographer, publisher, translator, philologist, revolutionary, politician |
| Known for | Hermes o Logios Filomousos Eteria |
| Notable work | Greek Dictionary Hellenic Library (1807) |
| Signature | |
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Anthimos Gazis orGazes (Greek:Ἄνθιμος Γαζῆς; bornAnastasios Gazalis,Ἀναστάσιος Γκάζαλης; 1758 – 24 June 1828) was aGreekscholar, revolutionary and politician. He was born inMilies (Thessaly) inOttoman Greece in 1758 into a family of modest means. In 1774 he became anEastern Orthodoxdeacon; his career later brought him toConstantinople where he was promoted toarchimandrite. He left forVienna in 1789, where he preached at the Church of Saint George, while simultaneously pursuing his academic interests. His efforts to promote education in Greece through theFilomousos Eteria, translation work and contributions to the first Greek philological periodical,Hermes o Logios, played a significant role in the development of theGreek Enlightenment.
In 1817, he joined theFiliki Eteria secret society and returned to his homeland, recruiting others in preparation for an anti–Ottoman revolt. In 1821, with the start of theGreek War of Independence against theOttoman Empire he led the Greek insurgents inMagnesia. After the suppression of the revolt there, he went toCentral Greece. He represented Magnesia inNational Assemblies of Epidaurus andAstros and worked in commissions regarding military affairs and education. In 1827, he fell ill and his condition steadily deteriorated until his death on 24 June 1828 inErmoupoli,Syros. Gazis died in poverty, having donated most of his savings to the Greek army.
Anastasios Gazalis was born inMilies in 1758. His father Panagiotis Gazalis and his mother Maria Argyriou Philippidi had four sons and four daughters. His family was poor, with the situation worsening when his father died in 1761. In 1770 he joined his village's school where he was taught by the monk Anthimos Papapantazis. He continued his education in theOld School of Rigas inZagora, where he studied logic, astronomy, philosophy, Greek philology, geography, natural sciences and mathematics. Zagora was well developed economically owing to its booming silk industry; unlike other areas of Greece its citizens had the right to bear arms and enjoyed a degree of relative autonomy. It was during this time that hehellenized his name into Anastasios Gazis. In 1774, he became adeacon upon his uncle's request; ecclesiastical professions were popular at the time. Accordingly, he assumed the clerical name Anthimos. The treaties ofKüçük Kaynarca,Jassy andConstantinople guaranteed the freedom of religion for Ottoman subjects, while also safeguarding church property and granting the right to erect new churches. A year later he was promoted to presbyter and sent to the village of Vizitsa, where he worked as a teacher. At the conclusion of his one year contract he departed forConstantinople, where he served as a secretary for theEcumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Sofronios II. Sofronios remarked upon Gazis' dedication and hard work rewarding him with the rank ofarchimandrite. Gazis soon befriended a merchant named Aggelis Mammaras ofMakrinitsa who urged him to leave forVienna after covering his expenses. Gazis left for Vienna in 1789.[1]
The peace treaties ofPassarowitz andBelgrade had restored commercial activity between theHabsburg monarchy and the Ottoman Empire. Vienna became an important center of theGreek diaspora, where both goods and ideas were exchanged freely. The religious life of the Greek community revolved around the Church of Saint George and theHoly Trinity Church. In May 1796, a twelve man commission voted Gazis as the new rector of the former.During this time frame he devoted time to the study of physics and mathematics while also translatingBenjamin Martin’s “Philosophical Grammar” from French which he published in 1799. Gazis supplemented the translation with extensive notes of his own on the subjects of electricity, magnetism, chemical reactions and the propagation of light. In 1800, Gazis reissued an edited version ofRigas Feraios'Charta of Greece; dimensions were cut in half andJean-Denis Barbié du Bocage's topographical plans were removed. The second edition was dedicated to the Greek nation and showed an allegorical figure representing the Greek civilization as being armed, with the motto "I shall follow your lead" appearing beneath her.[2] In 1802, he publishedFourcroy'sThe Philosophy of Chemistry; the text also contains additions from Fourcroy'sA General System of Chemical Knowledge, Scherzer'sJournal der Chemie (Leipzig, 1792),Französische Annalen der Allgemeinen Naturgeschichte (Hamburg, 1802) andGren'sGrundriss der Chemie.[3] In the same year his health deteriorated significantly due to an illness. He left Vienna, returning only in November 1804 to resume preaching. His stay would be brief as he soon left for Venice where he publishedGreek Lexicon andGreek Library, works based on Gesner'sBibliotheca universalis and Fabricius' Bibliotheca Graeca. He resumed his duties as rector in early 1808.[4]
In 1811, he received an honorary diploma from the “Graeco–Dacian Philological Institute of Bucharest” for his contribution to the advancement of science.[5] In the same year he founded the first philological periodical in Greek,Hermes o Logios ("Hermes the Scholar"), published in Vienna. It is regarded as the most significant and longest running periodical of the period prior to the outbreak of theGreek War of Independence,[6] containing contributions by key scholars and intellectuals.[7][8][9]Hermes o Logios aimed at creating intellectual contacts between the Greek communities of the Ottoman Empire and the Greek Diaspora in Western Europe, as well as the preparing national awakening of the Greek people.[10][11]
On 1 September 1813, theFilomousos Eteria was founded in Athens, with Gazis among its four curators. Its goals were the propagation of education in Greece, providing funds for poor students, publishing works of classical literature and the preservation of antiquities. The organization influenced the spread of the ideas of theModern Greek Enlightenment, indirectly promoting nationalism. On 1 January 1815, Gazis opened a second chapter of the Filomousos Eteria in Vienna. He developed a lively correspondence with German classicistFriedrich Thiersch, who in turn assisted Greek students in enrolling into Bavarian universities. Funds funneled from British and Russian donors covered the student's expenses. The Austrian intelligence service took note of Gazis' activities in the Filomousos Eteria as well as his close relationship with the Russian community in Vienna, ordering his surveillance. Gazis quit as rector in 1815. His reasoning was that he answered the call of patriotic speeches (made byAdamantios Korais andIoannis Kapodistrias) and would return to his homeland. In the spring of 1817, he traveled east through theDanubian Principalities toOdessa where he met the leadership and after some hesitation joinedFiliki Eteria, a secret organization tasked with overthrowing Ottoman rule of Greece and replacing it with an independent Greek state. Passing through Constantinople, he returned to Milies to teach in the local school. In March 1818, he was visited byAthanasios Tsakalov who proposed relocating the leadership of Filiki Eteria toPelion, Gazis disagreed, claiming that theMani Peninsula would be a better choice and thus the plan did not materialize. Gazis traveled through Magnesia under the pretense of conducting an archeological survey, while in reality actively recruiting for the Filiki Eteria. His most notable success was the initiation of PilionarmatolosKyriakos Bastekis and Makrinitsa headkodjabashi Hatzi Rigas. Although already a member of Filiki Eteria, scholarGrigorios Konstantas reluctantly agreed to support the use of force.[12][13]
On 7 May 1821, revolutionaries gathered at the entrance of the Agioi Taxiarches Church in Milies, with Gazis heading the meeting. A white flag bearing five red crosses and topped with a sun was unveiled, while Gazis read a letter written byAlexander Ypsilantis. On the same day, Gazis led a group of rebels into the village of Lechonia populated mainly by Turks, 200 of them were slain while the womenfolk were taken to the monasteries of Agios Georgios and Agios Lavrentios. They then proceeded to Efta Platania besieging its castle. Attempts to storm the castle failed as the rebels only possessed a single rusty cannon, while human wave attacks proved sanguine. On 11 May, the siege was abandoned and the rebels raidedVelestino, slaughtering those who had not already left it, burning and looting their houses and crops. A second meeting (styledBoule of Thessalo–Magnesia) took place in Velestino where Gazis officially declared the beginning of the insurrection to the representatives of the 24 villages surrounding Pilion, calling for the Christians of Thessaly to rise against the Ottomans. On 15 May,Mahmud Dramali Pasha's army descended fromLarissa, burning Kapurna and Kanalia. Rebels from Zagora, Makrinitsa and Volos fled in panic, many of them sought refuge inTrikeri. Dramali's arrival prompted most kodjabashis to bend the knee to the Turks. In the meantime Dramali marched on Milies with the intent to burn it, the rebels decided to defend their headquarters. The situation in the village became tense when local kodjabashi Stavrakis Morfoulis, attempted to shoot Gazis after exclaiming "Damn you, you doomed us all!". One of Gazis' comrades knocked the gun out of his hand before he was able to take a shot. Other kodjabashis tried to discredit the revolutionaries promising to act as emissaries to the Turks, in hopes that they will show mercy. Gazis and most other rebels left the village and by June the kodjabashis surrendered it to the Turks, being granted amnesty in return. Although a small scale insurgency continued, the revolution in Thessaly had ultimately collapsed.[14]
A boat took Gazis toSkiathos. The island housed significant numbers of refugees from Thessaly, who had resorted to selling their clothes and jewelry for minuscule portions of food. Skiathos kodjabashis saw Gazis as a troublemaker, spreading rumors that he had embezzled funds sent to him from abroad. One day a mob of refugees nearly lynched Gazis who was saved after the intervention by a local man named Anagnostis Benakis. Gazis' comrades then took him to theSkiathos Castle and thenSkopelos. When the man housing Gazis accidentally killed a man while practicing with his pistol, a mob set fire to his house. Gazis was seriously injured in the incident, spending two days in bed. Following his recovery he departed forTalantonisi and from there toMorea, eventually settling inSalona.[15] On 15 November, Gazis participated in theAreopagus of Eastern Continental Greece, a meeting of clerics, kodjabashis, armatoloi and other officials from Thessaly,Epirus,Macedonia andCentral Greece. There Gazis was elected as an official representative of theFirst National Assembly at Epidaurus. For the next thirteen months Gazis provided logistical support to insurgents onEuboea and obstructed Turkish efforts to send supplies to their garrisons in Morea. On 29 March 1823, he joined theSecond National Assembly at Astros. On 17 May 1824, he became a member of a commission regarding military affairs while simultaneously working in commissions of education. During that time Gazis and Konstantas presented a draft proposing the creation of an academy inArgos namedProtypon Didaktirion. The plan did not come to fruition due to events such as theDestruction of Psara and the ongoingGreek civil wars of 1824–1825.[16]
In 1827, Gazis fell ill while residing inTinos, he later relocated to his private residence inSyros. His health continued to deteriorate and he lived in poverty. The Greek government provided him with 650grosia while owing him 2,350 more. In letter toGeorgios Kountouriotis, he complained about the fortunes that corrupted officials had amassed in the confusion of the revolution, while his personal contribution to the sustenance of Greek army had been all but forgotten. On 3 April 1828, he composed his testament inAegina. The school he had founded together with Konstantas in Milies and his personal library were given to the Greek state. His house in Syros, the property he inherited from his father and a sum of 2,500 grosia were split between his nieces and nephews. On 10 December, Gazis died in his house inErmoupoli, he was buried outside the Ieros Naos Metamorfoseos Church in Ermoupoli.[17]
