Alexandros Mavrokordatos | |
|---|---|
| Αλέξανδρος Μαυροκορδάτος | |
 | |
| Prime Minister of Greece | |
| In office 16 May 1854 – 29 October 1855 | |
| Monarch | Otto |
| Preceded by | Antonios Kriezis |
| Succeeded by | Dimitrios Voulgaris |
| In office 30 March 1844 – 4 August 1844 | |
| Monarch | Otto |
| Preceded by | Konstantinos Kanaris |
| Succeeded by | Ioannis Kolettis |
| In office 24 June 1841 – 10 August 1841 | |
| Monarch | Otto |
| Preceded by | Direct Rule by Otto |
| Succeeded by | Direct Rule by Otto |
| In office 12 October 1833 – 31 May 1834 | |
| Monarch | Otto |
| Regent | Josef Ludwig von Armansperg |
| Preceded by | Spyridon Trikoupis |
| Succeeded by | Ioannis Kolettis |
| President of the ExecutiveProvisional Administration of Greece | |
| In office 15 January 1822 – 26 April 1823 | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Petrobey Mavromichalis |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1791-02-11)11 February 1791[1] |
| Died | 18 August 1865(1865-08-18) (aged 74) |
| Resting place | First Cemetery of Athens |
| Nationality | Greek |
| Party | English Party |
| Spouse | Chariklia Argiropoulos |
| Relations | Mavrokordatos family Cantacuzino family Caradja family |
| Relatives | Alexander Mavrokordatos (great-great-grandfather) Nicholas Mavrocordatos (great-grandfather) Șerban Cantacuzino (great-grandfather) Nicholas Caradja (grandfather) John Caradja (uncle) Charilaos Trikoupis (nephew) |
| Education | Phanar Greek Orthodox College |
| Alma mater | University of Padua |
| Occupation | Revolutionary Politician |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  First Hellenic Republic Kingdom of Greece |
| Branch/service |  Hellenic Army |
| Battles/wars | |
Alexandros Mavrokordatos (Greek:Αλέξανδρος Μαυροκορδάτος; 11 February 1791 – 18 August 1865) was a Greek statesman, diplomat, politician and member of theMavrokordatos family ofPhanariots.
In 1812, Mavrokordatos went to the court of his uncleJohn Caradja,Hospodar of Wallachia, with whom he passed into exile in theAustrian Empire (1818), where he studied at theUniversity of Padua. He was a member of theFiliki Eteria and was among thePhanariot Greeks who hastened toMorea on the outbreak of theWar of Independence in 1821.[2] At the time of the beginning of the revolution, Mavrokordatos was living inPisa with the poetPercy Bysshe Shelley and his wifeMary Shelley, and upon hearing of the revolution, Mavrokordatos headed toMarseille to buy arms and a ship to take him back to Greece.[3]
Mavrokordatos was a very wealthy, well educated man, fluent in seven languages, whose experience in ruling Wallachia led many to look towards him as a future leader of Greece.[3] Unlike many of the Greek leaders, Mavrokordatos, who had lived in the West, preferred to wear Western clothing, and looked towards the West as a political model for Greece.[4] The American philhelleneSamuel Gridley Howe described Mavrokordatos:
"His manners are perfectly easy and gentlemanlike and though the first impression would be from his extreme politeness and continual smiles that he was a good-natured silly fop, yet one soon sees from the keen inquisitive glances which involuntarily escape from him, that he is concealing, under an almost childish lightness of manner, a close and accurate study of his visitor... His friends ascribe every action to the most disinterested patriotism; but his enemies hesitate not to pronounce them all to have for their end his party or private interest... Here, as is often the case, truth lies between the two extremes".[3]
Mavrokordatos, a crafty, intelligent man was the best politician thrown up by the Greek struggle and he dominated directly or indirectly the various assemblies that endeavoured to establish a government for Greece.[5] He was active in endeavouring to establish a regular government, and in January 1822 he was elected by theFirst National Assembly at Epidaurus as the "President of the Executive", making him in effect Greece's leader.[6] The Epidaurus assembly was largely Mavrokordatos's triumph as he wrote the first Greek constitution and become the new national leader.[7] Reflecting the fact that the Greek government had little power, Mavrokordatos was more interested in defending his power base in West Rumeli (Continental Greece), going first to the island ofHydra to secure the support of the Hydriots' warships and then toMissolonghi, where he supervised the building of the defensive works while using his wealth to create a network of patronage designed to secure him support from the western Rumeliot clans.[8] Mavrokordatos did not play the part of a national leader, and had created a deliberately complicated constitution largely to ensure that no one else could become a successful leader while he was off securing his power base in West Rumeli.[9] One observer commented about Mavrokordatos's tactics: "He imitates the cunning of the hedgehog who, they say, flattens his needles and makes himself thin to enter his burrow, and once inside fluffs them out again and becomes a ball of prickles to stop anyone else getting in".[9]
He commanded the advance of the Greeks into western Central Greece the same year, and suffered a serious defeat atPeta on 16 July, but retrieved this disaster somewhat by his successful resistance to theFirst Siege of Missolonghi (November 1822 – January 1823).[2] At Peta, Mavokordatos wanted a victory by his philhellene units and his Greek soldiers trained by the German philhelleneKarl von Normann-Ehrenfels to show the advantages of professional military training to the Greeks.[10] Mavorkordatos appointed Normann-Ehrenfels, formerly a captain in theWürttemberg army his chief of staff.[10] At theAstros assembly in 1823, Mavrokordatos did not seek office again, but had himself appointed as general secretary of the Executive, which made him responsible for the flow of paperwork both to and from the Executive.[11] In 1823, Mavokordatos supported the Senate in its dispute with the Executive dominated by supporters of his rivalTheodoros Kolokotronis.[12] In 1824, Mavrokordatos welcomedLord Byron to Greece and tried to persuade him to lead an attack onNavpaktos.[13] In 1824, Mavrokordatos backed a plot by the American philhelleneGeorge Jarvis and the Scottish philhellene Thomas Fenton to murder his rivalOdysseas Androutsos and Androutsos's brother-in-lawEdward John Trelawny.[14]
Mavrokordatos's English sympathies brought him, in the subsequent strife of factions, into opposition to the"Russian" party headed byDemetrius Ypsilanti andKolokotronis; and though he held the portfolio of foreign affairs for a short while under the presidency of Petrobey (Petros Mavromichalis), he was compelled to withdraw from affairs until February 1825, when he again became a Secretary of State. The landing ofIbrahim Pasha followed, and Mavrokordatos again joined the army, barely escaping capture in the disaster atSphacteria, on 9 May 1825, on board the shipAres.[2]
After thefall of Missolonghi (22 April 1826) he went into retirement, until PresidentJohn Capodistria made him a member of the committee for the administration of war material, a position he resigned in 1828. After Kapodistria's murder (9 October 1831) and the resignation of his brother and successor,Augustinos Kapodistrias (13 April 1832), Mavrokordatos became Minister of Finance. He was Vice-President of theNational Assembly at Argos (July 1832), and was appointed by KingOtto as his Minister of Finance, and in 1833Premier.[2]
From 1834 onwards, he was Greek envoy atMunich,Berlin,London and, after a short interlude again as Premier of Greece in 1841, he was appointed envoy toConstantinople. In 1843, after the 3 September uprising, he returned to Athens as Minister with no portfolio in theMetaxas cabinet, and from April to August 1844 was head of the government formed after the fall of theRussian party. Going into opposition, he distinguished himself by his violent attacks on theKolettis government. In 1854-1855 he was again head of the government for a few months.
He died inAegina on 18 August 1865.[2]
| Alexander Mavrocordatos | |||||||||||||||||||
| Nicholas Mavrocordatos | |||||||||||||||||||
| Soultana Chrysoskolaiou | |||||||||||||||||||
| Alexandros Mavrocordatos | |||||||||||||||||||
| Panayotakis Stavropoleos | |||||||||||||||||||
| Smaragda Stavropoleou | |||||||||||||||||||
| Nicholas Mavrocordatos | |||||||||||||||||||
| Constantin Cantacuzino | |||||||||||||||||||
| Șerban Cantacuzino | |||||||||||||||||||
| Helena Basarab | |||||||||||||||||||
| Smaragda Cantacouzena | |||||||||||||||||||
| Maria | |||||||||||||||||||
| Alexandros Mavrokordatos | |||||||||||||||||||
| Nicolae Caradja | |||||||||||||||||||
| Smaragda Caradja | |||||||||||||||||||
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Mavrocordato s.v. Prince Alexander Mavrocordato".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 917.| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| New title | President of the Executive 15 January 1822 – 26 April 1823 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Greece 12 October 1833 – 31 May 1834 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Greece 24 June – 10 August 1841 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Greece 30 March – 4 August 1844 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Greece 16 May 1854 – 29 September 1855 | Succeeded by |
