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Theophilos Kairis | |
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 Theophilos Kairis | |
| Born | (1784-10-19)19 October 1784 Andros, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | 13 January 1853(1853-01-13) (aged 68) Syros, Kingdom of Greece |
| Philosophical work | |
| Era | Age of Enlightenment |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| School | Modern Greek Enlightenment,Liberalism |
| Main interests | Natural philosophy,philosophy of religion,deism (Theosebism),separation of church and state,liberal democracy |
Theophilos Kairis (Greek: Θεόφιλος Καΐρης; baptismal name ΘωμᾶςThomas; 19 October 1784 – 13 January 1853) was a Greek priest, philosopher and revolutionary. He was born inAndros,Cyclades,Ottoman Greece, as a son of a distinguished family.
Kairis studied in the theological school ofSmyrna and was ordained aGreek Orthodox priest. He spoke many languages ranging fromAncient Greek,Latin,Italian,French,German, andEnglish, that would allow him to participate in organizing theGreek War of Independence and to one day build the "Orphanotropheio" (Ὀρφανοτροφεῖο; Greek for "Orphanage"), a progressive school that embraced the modernuniversity system. Kairis studied withBenjamin of Lesbos at the school ofKydonies,Asia Minor, and was introduced to contemporary science and Greek interpretations ofnatural science.
Kairis studied inPisa andParis, and shared to the ideas of theAge of Enlightenment. He studiedmathematics, natural sciences andphilosophy. Kairis also had an interest inarchaeology, making some major findings upon his native island ofAndros. He also had an interest inbotany and cataloged many of the plants of his local area, as well as documenting pharmacologic properties of various plants.
Starting from 1811 he led Greek language high schools in Asia Minor. Eventually, he took an active part (1819–1826) in theGreek War of Independence and is now considered as an important figure in thehistory of Modern Greece.
On 10 May 1821 Theophilos Kairis, one of the leading intellectuals of the Greek Revolution, declared the War of Independence by raising the Greek flag at the picturesque cliffside church of St George on the island ofAndros: at this time, a famous heartfelt speech, or "Rhetoras", inspired shipowners and merchants to contribute funds and contribute ships to build a Greek Navy to combat theOttoman Empire.
There are many factors that influence the beginning of the Greek War of Independence. Furthermore, philosophy and science fromWestern Europe began to penetrate theculture of Greece at the same time of the establishment of thePhiliki Etairia, which was composed of intellectuals and merchants.
The views of theAge of Enlightenment in European countries are in general well researched, while the attempts to introduce the Enlightenment to countries in the periphery of Europe, such as Greece, is not documented to the same degree. Many unanswered questions remain from this historical period, and surround the philosophic work of Theophilos Kairis. How did the scientific revolution migrate to the Greek-speaking regions occupied by theOttoman Empire? How did the Greeks accept the truly revolutionary ideas of theFrench Revolution and liberalism? What were the reactions of the conservativeGreek Orthodox Church and who sacrificed their lives in the cause of their ideas?
Many of the orphans from the Greek War of Independence, especially from the massacre from the island ofPsara would form the body of the Orphanotropheio, in which Kairis taught many of the ideas learned fromPhilhellenes from all overEurope. Hence, this was the first true European university of Greece.
Though he was an ordained priest, Kairis fought in the War of Independence and was severely wounded in one battle. Towards the end of the war, he was selected to draft the verbiage for Greece's Constitution. But when the EuropeanGreat powers of the time installedOtto von Wittelsbach as a kind of Viceroy of the Powers he was not ready to integrate himself into the new system. King Otto offered him the position of Director of the University of Athens and awarded him the Gold Cross (equivalent to the Medal of Honor) for his contribution to the war, but Kairis turned both of these down. Instead, he continued to teach radical ideas of the Enlightenment which brought him into conflict with the King and with the Eastern Orthodox Church. Kairis became a victim of the Eastern Orthodox Church's equivalent of theHoly Inquisition. Kairis suffered a tragic end reserved by fate for those who, being pioneers, tried to introduce to Greece the liberal ideas of Western Europe and the Enlightenment. The philosopher priest, Theophilos Kairis, following his conviction by theHoly Synod in 1839, was confined to the monastery in political exile on the island ofSkiathos. He had been located toSyros for trial but died in 1853, 10 days before his judicial hearing, of natural causes.
Kairis, along with a few disciples, founded a pietistic revivalist movement known asTheosebism, inspired by the French revolutionary cults, radical Protestantism and deism. This movement wasanathematised by the Synod of thePatriarchate of Constantinople.
Beginning with 1826, Kairis dedicated himself to an institute for orphans of the Greek revolution on Andros. The "Orphantropheio", or orphan school, presented Kairis with the opportunity to introduce to the Greek education system a wide range of subjects ranging fromcomparative religion,astronomy, shipnavigation,agriculture,applied mathematics,accounting,natural science, advanced mathematics, and Theosebism.
Members of the Orphanotripheio represented children from all sides of the Balkan conflict, with individuals fromBulgaria,MuslimTurks displaced by the Revolution, andCatholics who had inhabited the Greek island since theMiddle Ages.
In fact, Kairis had a very different vision for an independent Greece, one that was based upon the concept ofseparation of church and state as proposed byThomas Jefferson. Kairis advocated for a pan-Balkan state similar to theUnited States, that preserved the cosmopolitan nature of the post-Byzantine Empire era, where all creeds were equally free of tyranny from the oppressive Ottomans.
This was the prelude of the so-calledEastern Question, the gradual dismemberment of the decayingOttoman Empire by the Great powers.
The library is housed in a wonderful neoclassical building, in Hora (or Andros Town) and contains about 3,000 tomes from the collection of Theophilos Kairis. In the library are also exposed a large number of rare publications, manuscripts, historical records, works of art and a small archaeological collection. Within the records, extensive letters demonstrating a network of intellectuals would update Kairis about the trends in European science and philosophy.
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Also the mathematical treatises of Kairis are present, representing a very active and original intellect, who had written on complex themes, including on mathematical extensions ofPierre-Simon Laplace's Celestial Mechanics. Artifacts that demonstrate Kairis philosophic approach to understanding the energies (energiki ousia phiseos) of nature remain in the library, and highlight Kairis knowledge ofJoseph Fourier's work onenergy. Through various letters and correspondence, Kairis's approach to communicating with the various philhellenes demonstrates a network of intellectuals that were involved with theFrench Revolution. Kairis has been referred to as the "new Socrates" and was very active in didactic education. The island of Andros has a series of water fountains, and horizontalwindmills constructed at the time the students from the orphanotropio were active on the Island, and represent applications from the Kairiki lessons.
One can find books by Professor Mavromatis in the library, who edited Kairis's mathematical work, focusing on how Kairis use the Newtonianbinomial to find the roots ofcardinal numbers.[dubious –discuss]
Kairis was in constant communication with western intellectuals from Andros, and had communicated withAuguste Comte, and wrote on his treatises onsociology, then a newly emerging subject. Kairis has also incorporated these ideas into the curriculum of the orphanotropheio. Comte's ideas were tremendously influential on Kairis in the later years of the orphanotropheio, especially the idea that social ills can be solved as advocated byJeremy Bentham.
Kairis spoke many languages and was interested in teaching philosophy from the ancient Greeks, translating the great poetry and theatre from antiquity, as well as the philosophic treatises of Aristotle and Plato. Furthermore, lessons on the progressive subject ofcomparative religion was to be invaluable for the would-be ship captains and merchants embarked on international trade. Kairis would teach theosphitism, but in the context of world religions, ranging from Buddhism, many describing the philosophical thought of Kairis similar in vein as with theTranscendentalism ofHenry David Thoreau andRalph Waldo Emerson.
Kiaris emphasised poetry as part of the curriculum and taughtLord Byron's work,Robert Browning as well as poetry from the French and German speaking west. This was to create a naturalist and metaphysical aptitude balanced with the natural sciences andmathematics.
The school was disbanded after Kairis was declared a heretic, but many of the orphanotropio would go on into the shipping professions, and were also versed in accounting and probability. Of notable family names who can trace back ancestors who were schooled by Kairis were theGoulandris andEmberikos families. Other students hid in the surrounding mountains, taking with them the banned books from the school, and continued to live with the inhabitants of the island working and building some of the most interesting windmills in Greece.
Indeed, Kairis had also taught his students the early field of Archeology, and conducted field trips on the island to the place he had discovered the ruins of a temple dedicated to Aphrodite prior to the Greek revolution.
To this day, every summer, art exhibitions are organized in the new exhibition area of the library.
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