Mikhail Kalopothakis

Michaïl Kalopothakis

Mikhail D. Kalopothakis ( Greek Μιχαήλ Δ Καλοποθάκης. * 1825 in Areopolis , † 1911 ) was a pioneer of Protestantism in Greece as founder and elder of the Evangelical Church of Greece (Greek Ελληνική Ευαγγελική Εκκλησία Greek Evangelical Church ).

biography

Childhood, youth and education

Kalopothakis was born in Areopoli, the capital of the Mani Peninsula , in 1825 and was raised in the Mavromichalis family. From the age of ten he attended the three-class middle school that had opened in Areopoli . Two Presbyterian missionaries from the USA, George W. Leyburn and Samuel R. Houston, founded this at the invitation of the Beys of Mani, Petros "Petrobey" Mavromichalis. It was there that Kalopothakis read the Bible for the first time and began studying it daily.

He first became a teacher, but after five years as a middle school director in Gythio , he finished his service and went to Athens to study . From 1841 he attended the grammar school of Georgios Gennadios there , and in 1844 he enrolled at the Medical Faculty of the University of Athens . During his studies, he attended the meetings of missionary Jonas King . When he was charged with blasphemy and ridicule of the Virgin Mary , medical student Kalopothakis appeared as a witness. The condemnation of King convinced Kalopothakis that "the people need a spiritual reform and that this reform must arise from the gospel and only on its basis."

Missionary Life

In 1853 Kalopothakis decided to give up his profession as a military surgeon and study theology in the USA . To do this, he went to Columbia University in New York City . There he met his wife Martha Hooper Blackler .

In 1857 he returned to Greece and continued his evangelical missionary work. In the process, he encountered increasing difficulties and persecutions. Immediately after his return in 1858, Kalopothakis founded the Christian magazine Astir tis Anatolis (Greek Αστήρ της Ανατολής, Star of the East '), originally as a weekly, later as a monthly. Soon after pressure from the Orthodox clergy , the publishers refused to continue publishing. Kalopothakis then founded his own publishing house.

During the uprising in Crete from 1866 to 1869, he and his colleagues founded an organization that looked after Cretan refugees and organized food, shelter and schooling for thousands. One of the most famous Athens newspaper editors at this time, who had also played a leading role in the conviction of Jonas King, Timoleon Filimon (Τιμολέων Φιλήμων Φιλήμων) from the magazine Eon (Greek Αιών 'century'), polemicized against Kalopothakis daily in his magazine. Despite all the difficulties, Kalopothakis continued his missionary work. A small group of Protestant believers developed from which the First Greek Evangelical Church emerged , which erected its own church building, which was inaugurated in 1871. In the same year his wife died, who supported him very much in his work and wrote and translated many articles. Soon afterwards evangelical congregations in Piraeus and Volos and other small groups emerged. This development called a section of the Orthodox clergy on the scene, who were hostile to the Evangelical Church of Greece.

Apart from the magazine Astir tis Anatolis , he founded the unique illustrated children's magazine Efimeris ton Pedon (Greek Εφημερίς των Παίδων, 'Children's Newspaper'), which had a monthly circulation of 8,000 copies, which was unprecedented in this period. Later the Efemeris ton Pedon was one of the most famous magazines. She was even known to the Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos .

Kalopothakis also became the first Greek director of the British and Foreign Bible Society in Athens and attempted to spread the Bible in Greece. To this end, he hired Christians, mainly young people, who traveled to cities and villages all over Greece to sell Bibles. He was also an associate member in Parnassus , a member of the Archaeological Society , founder of the animal protection association (Greek Συλλόγος Φιλοζώων) and developed activities to introduce the day of rest on Sunday .

Mikhail Kalopothakis died in 1911 shortly after delivering a sermon on the word " It is done " spoken by Jesus Christ on the cross . His grave is in the First Athens Cemetery .

family

His work was carried on by his son Dimitrios Kalopothakis , who was himself a journalist and elder of the Evangelical Church. His daughter Mary Kalopothakes became a committed doctor and pioneer of emancipation .

literature

• P. Hintzoglou: Reformed Communities in an Eastern Orthodox Culture. Fuller Theological Seminary, 1969.
• Michail Kyriakaki (Κυριακάκη Μ. Β.): 'Πρωτοπορία και Πρωτοπόροι, 1985.
• I. Tseva: Star of the East (Αστήρ της Ανατολής), February 1997, p. 63.
• I. Tseva: Star of the East (Αστήρ της Ανατολής), November 2001, p. 302.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Annual Report of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, Volumes 30-32, Troy (NY) 1839, p. 57 f. Digitized online
2. ↑ .eta καταδίκη του Κιγκ, έπεισε τον Καλοποθάκη ότι "το έθνος έχει ανάγκη πνευματικής αναμορφώσεως και ότι η αναμόρφωση αυτή πρέπει να γίνει με το Ευαγγέλιο και με βάση αυτό και μόνο " M. Kyriaki: vanguard and pioneer (gr Πρωτοπορία και Πρωτοπόροι.) 1985, pp. 9-24
3. ↑ M. Kyriakakis: Πρωτοπορεία και Πρωτοπόροι. 1985, pp. 85-88

Remarks

1. ↑ The writer Grigorios Xenopoulos (Γρηγόριος Ξενόπουλος), one of the regular readers, writes in his autobiographical book Mein Leben wie ein Roman (Η Ζωή μου σαν Μυθιστόρημα): “Indeed, this beautiful pedon decorated with the“ Efimeris ”sound When I published stories, I "sank" into reading. In almost every book she published a poem, church songs together with the melody ... I just took the booklet with a song, brought it to her (to Adriani Episkopoulou ) so that she could play it for me (on the piano) ... One, two, three times until I could do the song too… I remember the first song I learned from Adriani well. It was a missionary song ... It did not convince me, nor do I think it would ever have convinced any other little Greek, be it missionary, be it simply evangelical, and the Holy Synod was unreasonably concerned at the time and banned all publications Kalopothakis. But I have to admit that the "Efemeris ton Pedon" helped me and strengthened a religious feeling in me that is above every denomination and every heresy. " εικονογραφημένες ιστορίες <ξαπολύθηκα> και στο διάβασμα. Σε κάθε σχεδόν φυλλάδιο, το περιοδικό δημοσίευε κι από ένα ποίημα, θρησκευτικό συνήθως, με τη μουσική του ... Μόλις λάβαινα φυλλάδιο με ύμνο, της τον πήγαινα (της Αδριανής Επισκοπούλου) να μου τον παίξει (στο πιάνο) ... Μια, δυο, τρεις φορές, ώσπου μάθαινα τον ύμνο κι εγώ ... Θυμούμαι ακόμα τον πρώτο ύμνο που έμαθα με την Αδριανή . Ήταν ένας ύμνος ιεραποστολικός ... Δε μ 'έκανε βέβαια, ούτε πιστεύω να έκανε ποτέ κανέν 'άλλο Ελληνόπουλο, ιεραπόστολο είτε, είτε απλώς ευαγγελικό, κι άδικα ανησύχησε τότε η Ιερά Σύνοδος κι απαγόρευσε όλα τα δημοσιεύματα του Καλοποθάκη . Χρωστώ όμως να ομολογήσω, πως κι η <Εφημερίς των Παίδων> με ωφέλησε πολύ και μου τόνωσε το θρησκευτικό αίσθημα, που είναι υπεράνω απ ό κάθε δόγμα και κάθε αίρεση ... »)