Gregory Aristarchis

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Template:Ottoman Turkish name Gregory "Ligor" Aristarchis (Greek: Γρηγόριος Αριστάρχης; French: Grégoire Aristarchi, born 1843,[1] died 1915), also known as Aristarchi Bey, was an Ottoman diplomat of Phanariote[2] Greek ethnicity, compiler of a corpus of Ottoman legislation.

Education and career

Originally a provincial jurist, he became the director of foreign correspondence of Crete beginning in 1861, and then from 1867 the Smyrna (Izmir) directeur politique ("political director") and vice-governor.[1]

He served as Ottoman Minister in Washington from 1873 to 1883[citation needed] with Alexandros Mavrogenis.[citation needed] The Ottoman government dismissed him from his post. Sinan Kuneralp, author of "Ottoman Diplomatic and Consular Personnel in the United States of America, 1867-1917," argued that his relationship with Midhat Pasha was the "more likely" reason why he was fired, while the official accusation was that Aristarchis misused money from a weapons deal.[2] After 1883 he lived in Paris where he worked as advisor to Alfred Nobel. After the fall of Abdul Hamid II he served as an Ottoman envoy to the Netherlands, where he died.

Collection of laws

He compiled Législation ottomane, ou Recueil des lois, règlements, ordonnances, traités, capitulations et autres documents officiels de l´Empire ottoman, one of the first collections of the Ottoman Law in 7 volumes in French language,[3][4] while Demetrius Nicolaides edited them. Aristarchis is named in most volumes, except for 6-7,[1] which, according to Strauss, "seem to have been edited solely by Demetrius Nicolaides".[5] The collection was intended for foreigners living in the empire, including employees of foreign ministries. Strauss described it as the "best-known example of" a collection of Ottoman laws.[1]

Constantinople-based N. Petrakides, a lawyer of Greek ethnicity, wrote the introduction. Different people wrote different sections, and Aristarchis himself did none of the actual translation,[1] According to Johann Strauss, author of "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire: Translations of the Kanun-ı Esasi and Other Official Texts into Minority Languages," seemingly none of the participants natively spoke French nor originated from France.[6] The corpus includes the Edict of Gülhane, orginating from Manuale di diritto publico e privato ottomano; the Ottoman Code of Public Laws (Düstur); and the Mecelle, in volumes 6-7.[1] According to Strauss, some translations originated from Greek instead of Ottoman Turkish, done by translators unaware of Ottoman Turkish conventions.[6]

Personal life

Strauss wrote that Aristarchis was a "popular figure" in the United States,[1] and Kuneralp wrote that in his youth he "was a dashing young bachelor known for his many feminine conquests."[2] He appeared as the main character in a novel by Henry James.[1]

See also

Works

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Strauss, Johann (2010). "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire: Translations of the Kanun-ı Esasi and Other Official Texts into Minority Languages". In Herzog, Christoph; Malek Sharif (eds.). The First Ottoman Experiment in Democracy. Wurzburg. p. 21-51.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) (info page on book at Martin Luther University) - Cited: p. 27 (PDF p. 29)
  2. ^ a b c Kuneralp, Sinan. "Ottoman Diplomatic and Consular Personnel in the United States of America, 1867-1917." In: Criss, Nur Bilge, Selçuk Esenbel, Tony Greenwood, and Louis Mazzari (editors). American Turkish Encounters: Politics and Culture, 1830-1989 (EBSCO Ebook Academic Collection). Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 12 July 2011. ISBN 144383260X, 9781443832601. Start: p. 100. CITED: p. 101.
  3. ^ Sinan Kuneralp (2000) Ottoman diplomacy and the controversy over the interpretation of the Article 4 of the Turco-American Treaty of 1830. The Turkish Yearbook, vol. 31, pp.13, 14. Available online in pdf format.
  4. ^ Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 2, Number 154, 21 August 1876 — THE FOREIGN WAR. [ARTICLE]
  5. ^ Strauss, Johann (2010). "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire: Translations of the Kanun-ı Esasi and Other Official Texts into Minority Languages". In Herzog, Christoph; Malek Sharif (eds.). The First Ottoman Experiment in Democracy. Wurzburg. p. 21-51.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) (info page on book at Martin Luther University) - Cited: p. 27-28 (PDF p. 29-30)
  6. ^ a b Strauss, Johann (2010). "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire: Translations of the Kanun-ı Esasi and Other Official Texts into Minority Languages". In Herzog, Christoph; Malek Sharif (eds.). The First Ottoman Experiment in Democracy. Wurzburg. p. 21-51.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) (info page on book at Martin Luther University) - Cited: p. 28 (PDF p. 30)