Ioannis Makrygiannis

Portrait of Makrygiannis in the National Historical Museum in Athens

Ioannis Makrygiannis ( Greek Ιωάννης "Γιάννης" Μακρυγιάννης , Ioannis or Giannis Makrygiannis * 1797 in Avoriti as Ioannis Triandafyllos ; Greek Ιωάννης Τριαντάφυλλος ; † 1864 in Athens ) was a Greek freedom fighters, officers and politicians . He fought in the Greek War of Independence , became a general, and won several significant victories. After Greek independence he played a major role in the first Greek constitution of the Kingdom of Greece . As an author, Makrygiannis was best known for his memoirs , which are considered a “monument to Greek literature ” and are used as a source of historical and cultural information of his time.

Life

Childhood and youth

Ioannis Makrygiannis was born as Ioannis Triandafyllos into a poor family. "Makrygiannis" (Eng .: great John) was a nickname he had received because of his size. His father Dimitris Triandafyllos was killed in fighting with the army of Tepedelenli Ali Pasha . The family then had to flee to Livadia , where Makrygiannis spent his childhood until 1811. At the age of seven he came to a wealthy family in Livadia as a foster son, but the work as a servant and the abuse, according to Makrygiannis, were "his death". So in 1811 he went to Arta to a friend who had close ties to Ali Pasha. Makrygiannis started trading as a teenager and grew into a wealthy man. According to Sphyroeras, he probably became a member of the anti-Ottoman secret society Filiki Eteria in 1820 . In March 1821 he went to Patras on the Peloponnese peninsula . The reason he gave was business, in reality he wanted to explain the political situation in Rumelia to the local members of Filiki Eteria . After meeting with Odysseas Androutsos , he returned to Arta two days before the outbreak of the revolution in Patras and was promptly arrested by the Ottoman administration and interned in the fortress. He remained in custody for more than 90 days before escaping in August 1821 and joining Gogos Bakolas .

During the war of independence

Lithograph by Karl Krazeisen (1831)

Under the command of Bakolas, Makrygiannis took part in the Battle of Stavros near Tzoumerka in September 1821 and in the Battle of Peta , where he was slightly injured in the leg. A few days later he took part in the siege of Arta, which temporarily brought the city under Greek control. At the end of 1821 he went to Mesolongi , where, according to statements in his memoirs, he fell seriously ill and did not recover until March 1822. He recovered in the village of Sernikaki near Salona and then reported back for military service. He was given command of a small group of resistance fighters and fought in the siege of the town of Patratziki , which had been defended by a not inconsiderable number of Ottoman troops.

After the Acropolis of Athens was abandoned by the Ottomans in June 1822, Makrygiannis was appointed overseer of public order on January 1, 1823. In this office he made several decisions for measures to curb the indiscriminate oppression of the people and the thefts. In the summer of 1823 he fought near Nikitaras in the eastern part of central Greece . In October of the same year he led a rumelier group to the Peloponnese, where he fought alongside the government of Georgios Koundouriotis in a civil war against the rebels. For his achievements in this conflict he was promoted to brigadier , in August 1824 to lieutenant general and finally to general in late 1824.

In March 1825, after the Peloponnese had been occupied by Egyptian troops, Makrygiannis became the politarch of Kyparissia and took part in the Battle of Neokastro. After the fortress fell on May 11, 1825, he hurried to Myli near Nafplio , where he arrived on June 10 with 100 men. Immediately he ordered the construction of makeshift fortifications and the stocking of food. More and more military leaders arrived in Myli, so that Ibrahim Pasha , the commander of the Egyptian troops, could not hold the position despite the numerical superiority and several violent attacks on June 12th and 14th. Makrygiannis was injured in the battle and brought to Nafplio.

Soon after, he married the daughter of a prominent Athenian. From then on, all his actions applied to the city. When Athens was captured by Ibrahim Pasha in June 1826, Makrygiannis helped organize the defense of the Acropolis and, after the death of commander Ioannis Gouras, became the acting commander of the garrison. He was able to repel the violent attack on the Odeon of Herodes Atticus on October 7th and suffered three serious injuries to the head and neck while defending the Acropolis. These wounds made him difficult for the rest of his life, but did not prevent him from taking part in the final phase of the war: in the spring of 1827 he fought in the battles of Piraeus and Analatos .

After the war of independence

Portrait of Spyridon Prosalentis .

Under President Kapodistrias

The first head of state of Greece was the noble politician Ioannis Kapodistrias , who appointed Makrygiannis in 1828 as the "head of the administration of the Peloponnese" based in Argos . During this time he started with his memoirs as a diary. After Kapodistrias restructured the military in 1830, Makrygiannis became a brigadier. Nevertheless, he gradually opposed the policy of Kapodistrias and may even break with it. Makrygiannis defied the president's authoritarianism and had doubts whether or not his homeland would be attached to liberated Greece. Influenced by Ioannis Kolettis , he even tried to force Kapodistrias into a constitutional form of government and also used the troops that were under his command, but was unsuccessful. In August 1831, the government forced all civil servants and military personnel to sign an oath of service denying any participation in secret societies and saying that they were loyal servants of the government. Makrygiannis felt this as humiliation and tried to draw up his own oath of service. But the government did not accept this and he was relieved of all functions. His opposition to the ruling regime did not end when Kapodistrias was assassinated on October 9, 1831. He took sides for the "constitutionalists" and fought against the brother of the governor and successor Augustinos Kapodistrias . Nevertheless, he condemned the murder in the strongest terms.

The reign of King Otto

At the London Conference in May 1832 , the signatory powers of the independence of Greece , Great Britain, France and Russia named Prince Otto of Bavaria as the first king of Greece. The arrival of Otto in the Greek capital Nafplio was enthusiastically praised by Makrygiannis. The hopes he placed in the new government did not last long, however. King Otto was a minor and Bavarian regents were appointed to rule in his place. Makrygiannis came into conflict with War Minister Karl Wilhelm von Heideck for his behavior towards the veterans of the War of Independence. The new Greek army had no place for the irregular troops of klepht . These guerrilla forces formed the backbone of the Greek armed forces during the war and Makrygiannis found their exclusion from the army disrespectful. Not only had these men been banned from serving in the army, they were stripped of all wages and thus brought into financial difficulties. Makrygiannis also believed that the Bavarian Prime Minister Joseph von Armansperg was personally responsible for the serious problems of the new state. As a consequence, he withdrew from active politics.

After the cities and municipalities had been introduced by royal decree on December 27, 1833, Makrygiannis was elected to the city council of Athens. In 1834 the city became the new capital of the country. In the body he harshly criticized what he perceived as a neglect and as an authoritarian act of the royal administration and the cabinet. Again and again he called for a constitution, although the royal administration valued him and promoted him to the rank of colonel. During the king's absence due to his marriage to Amalie von Oldenburg (1836 or 1837), public discontent with von Armansperg reached a new high point. The newspapers Athena and Elpis criticized him sharply and some politicians demanded his replacement. Makrygiannis, in his capacity as chairman of the city assembly of Athens, applied for the adoption of a resolution calling for a constitution in January 1837, which should be handed over to the king. Not long before that, Makrygiannis had toasted the health of the royal couple at a banquet in the presence of former fighters from the War of Independence, remembered the victims of the war and called for a constitution. Von Armansperg immediately dissolved the city council, dismissed the mayor and placed Makrygiannis under house arrest. During this time Makrygiannis commissioned 25 engravings from the artist Panagiotis Zografos , the proceeds of which were to benefit the war veterans.

In the meantime, calls for a constitution grew louder, just as displeasure with Otto's government grew steadily. The tense situation culminated in the revolution of September 3, 1843 , which finally forced a constitution from the king. Makrygiannis was one of the leaders of the movement. As a result, Makrygiannis was one of the most important personalities. He played an important role in shaping the new cabinet and was elected to represent Athens in the constituent national assembly. The politician led a group of 63 members who were loyal to him and made several motions himself during the drafting of the constitution. He withdrew from politics again shortly after the work of the assembly was over. In 1994, Makrygiannis was selected for the reverse of the 50 drachma commemorative coin that was to be issued on the 150th anniversary of the constitution for the leading role in drafting the first Greek constitution. The coin appeared in three versions, each intended to honor one of the leaders of the September 3 revolution: Dimitrios Kallergis and Andreas Metaxas were chosen alongside Makrygiannis .

Makrygiannis finished his memoir in 1850, so other sources will have to be used for the rest of his life. In the period that followed, he repeatedly expressed his concerns about the policy of King Otto's government. He defends himself against what he perceived as the continued degradation of veterans of the War of Independence and has been accused of plotting against the king on several occasions. In addition, the king never forgave him for his participation in the September 3rd Movement. When summoned to the palace to betray the September 3 conspirators, Makrygiannis refused and replied, “I am not a slave.” In 1852 he was accused of plotting to overthrow the ruling class and assassinate the king. On April 13, 1852, he was placed under house arrest and heavily guarded by an officer who was housed in the next room. On March 16, 1853, he was sentenced to death . According to the historian Pierre Vidal-Naquet, however, the charge was based on false testimony and circumstantial evidence. The chairman of the tribunal, Kitsos Tzavelas , was also considered a personal opponent of Makrygiannis. Five out of six judges voted for the death sentence. The king changed the sentence into life imprisonment. But Makrygiannis only served 18 months in prison. King Otto reduced the sentence to twenty and then to ten years. He was finally pardoned on September 2, 1854 because of the Crimean War . The blockade of Piraeus by French and British troops also led to a promotion of Makrygiannis' friend and companion Kallergis to Minister of War - despite his attempts to overthrow the king. Kallergis used his new influence to free Makrygiannis. He had suffered a lot in prison and had hallucinations frequently after his release . His condition worsened when his youngest son died in a cholera epidemic in Athens.

A revolution broke out on October 10, 1862, which ended with the expulsion of King Otto into exile. Makrygiannis regained the offices he had lost with the trial and was re-elected to the new constituent assembly for Athens in 1864. On April 20, 1864, he was promoted to general. He died a few days later on April 27, 1864.

Literary work

Makrygiannis finished his memoirs in the years before his imprisonment. The last entries seem to be from September or October 1850, which can be deduced from the events he describes. In the text not only the personal experiences of the politician and military can be understood, it also describes his view of the people and events of that time, which he describes very clearly and sometimes passionately. The memoirs were first published in full in 1907 by Giannis Vlachogiannis, but fragments of the text were already published in 1904 in the Acropolis newspaper . In 1908, Spyridon Lambros praised his straightforwardness and low egotism , as well as his attitude to express his opinion. The writer Kostis Palamas called his work in 1911 "incomparable in its kind, a masterpiece of an uneducated, but strong and autonomous character". Makrygiannis had very little schooling and, according to his own admission, only learned to write in Argos shortly before he began his memoirs. The text written in Dimotiki is not only of historical interest, but also linguistically significant, as it allows a glimpse of the Greek that was common at the time.

Makrygiannis was long ignored by historiography and hardly mentioned even by chroniclers of the War of Independence. With the publication of his book, he rekindled interest in the revolution. Even so, after initial interest, the memoirs were barely cited in the decades that followed. Makrygiannis was rediscovered when the German Wehrmacht occupied Greece. In 1941, Giorgos Theotokas published an article on the general in which he called the memoirs "a monument of Greek literature" because they were written in Dimotiki . According to the National Book Center of Greece, Seferis also said that Makrygiannis, along with Alexandros Papadiamantis, was one of the two greatest masters of 19th century Greek literature.

The general's objectivity was questioned again and again. Vlachogiannis praises his honesty in the preface to the memoir, but criticizes the lack of objectivity and impartiality. Makrygiannis was very resentful towards people he was in conflict with and often used disparaging language towards them while hardly saying a bad word about those he valued.

A few months after he had finished his memoir, he began a new "history book", as he called it, on New Year's Eve 1851, which he abruptly gave up at the end of March 1852 when he was under house arrest. This text was acquired by Vlachogiannis in 1936 or 1937 and finally published in 1983 by Angelos Papakostas under the title Visions and Miracles . According to Papakostas, however, the text has far less meaning than the memoir. Vlachogiannis believed that the manuscript was "an overzealous work of a confused mind" and that was why he did not want to publish it. The work is undoubtedly the product of a physically and psychologically tormented soul who talked to God, Panagia and the saints in isolation . The text reveals Makrygiannis' deep religious feelings; he turns away from the force of arms and instead seeks the salvation of the nation in divine intervention. Nonetheless, Sphyroeras believed that the work was unique in its subject matter in modern Greek literature and, like the memoir, was an important source for linguistic and cultural research.

Writings and editions

• Ἀπομνημονεύματα (memories) . Athens 1907
  • Général Macriyannis: Mémoires (preface by Pierre Vidal-Naquet ), Albin Michel (French).
  • General Makriyannis: Ἀπομνημονεύματα . Athens 1907 (preface by Giannis Vlachogiannis); Reprint 1996 Papyros, Athens (preface by V. Sphyroeras) (Greek).
  • General Makriyannis: Makriyiannis: The Memoirs of General Makriyannis 1797–1864 . Published by HA Lidderdale, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1966 (English).
• Ὁράματα καὶ Θάματα (visions and miracles) . Ed. Angelos Papakostas, Athens 1983 (Greek).

literature

• Νεώτερο Εγκυκλοπαιδικό Λεξικό Ηλίου . 1945 to 1960 (Greek).
• G. Hering: Makrijannis , in: Biographical Lexicon for the History of Southeast Europe . Volume 3. Munich 1979, pp. 80-82
• Giorgos Seferis : Dokimes . 3 volumes, Ed. GP Savidis, 1974 (Vol. 1 and 2); Ed. Dimitri Daskalopoulos, 1992 (Volume 3) (Greek).
• Giorgos Theotokas : General Makrygiannis . Nea Estia 1941 (Greek).

Web links

Commons : Ioannis Makrygiannis  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} National Book Center of Greece's biography of Makrygiannis (affiliated with Ministry of Culture) (in Greek) ( Memento of the original from December 15, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa} General Makrygiannis: Ἀπομνημονεύματα (memoirs) . Papyros, Athens 1996 (foreword by V. Sphyroeras) (Greek)
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Général Makrygiannis: Mémoires . (Foreword by Pierre Vidal-Naquet), Éditions Albin Michel (French)
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Encyclopaedic Dictionary The Helios. (in Greek)
5. ^ Catalog of Drachmas , Bank of Greece , accessed May 23, 2016
6. ^ Giorgos Theotokas: General Makrygiannis . Nea Estia, 1941 (Greek)
7. ↑ Strategus Makrygiannis: Ἀπομνημονεύματα (memoirs) . Athens 1907 (preface by Giannis Vlachogiannis; Greek)
8. ↑ General Makrygiannis: Ὁράματα καὶ Θάματα (Visions and Miracles) . Ed. Angelos Papakostas, Athens 1983 (Greek).