Philip Pandely Argenti

Philip Pandely Argenti, April 1930

Philip Pandely Argenti ( Greek Φίλιππος Παντελής Αργέντης Filippos Pandelis Argendis; born May 1, 1891 in Marseille ; † April 14, 1974 in London ) was a Greek diplomat and lawyer, genealogist and historian from Chios .

Pirgos (former residential tower, later expanded) of the Argenti family on the Kambos of Chios before the earthquake of 1881

Coat of arms of the Argenti family of Chios

Origin and life

Philip P. Argenti comes from the long-established Chiot aristocratic family of the Argenti . The family originally came from the small town of Ariento in Italy near Genoa . The first documented family member is Lorenzo Argenti, who, after taking part in the First Crusade (1096-1099), settled in Constantinople.

On Chios, the family can be traced in uninterrupted succession with the mention of Lorenzo Argenti in 1511. The family was one of the first and oldest on Chios and made members an archon . In 1822, during the Chios massacre , the notables were taken hostage and hanged on May 6, 1822 in Vounaki Square , including the great-great-grandfather of Philip P. Argenti, Leonidas Argenti (1743-1822). During the Turkish massacre, the family managed to leave the country and settled in various trading centers in Western Europe, mainly in London.

Philip P. Argenti was the fourth of five children of Pandely Leonidas Argenti (London 1853 – London 1911) and Fanny Schilizzi (London 1854 – London 1926). Argenti received his legal education in England at Winchester College (Cook's House 1906-1910) and Christ Church College, Oxford (1910-1912) and at the University of Athens. His first professional activity was that of a lawyer before higher courts (Barrister-at-law) in Athens in 1922. In 1923 he entered the Greek diplomatic service. He was an advisor to Greek embassies to the exiled governments of Poland, Belgium and Luxembourg. He served in the First World War 1914-1918 in the third Greek cavalry regiment and took part in the Asia Minor campaign in 1923. In his later years he was a cultural ambassador at the Royal Greek Embassy in London.

Argenti as a historian

Philip Argenti is the island's foremost historian and has published a large number of monographs and source editions on the history of Chios. His works are characterized by a great wealth of materials. Since the historical tradition in the whole of Greece during the time of the Turkish rule was extremely low, there were hardly any Greek sources and those from the time before the Turkish rule had been largely destroyed, he saw his first task in collecting the material that was in foreign archives (diplomatic correspondence , Travel reports, etc.) was available to collect, initiate and present. Argenti also wrote a story of his own family, the Argenti house on Chios. His bibliography on Chios (1933) is a monumental work that has not yet been continued. He promoted the preservation of the cultural heritage of Chios in a variety of ways. In addition to his own scientific work, he edited several manuscripts by other authors that were difficult to access or would otherwise not have been published.

Argenti also sponsored the important excavations of the English archaeologist Sinclair Hood in Emborios and Agio Gala . In 1932 he founded the “Argenti Society” for the preservation of the historical and folkloric collections, which were housed in one of the rooms of the high school in Chios (Chios High School, today Korais library ). Other Argentis foundations increased the collections. He later added another room to the museum building to house his books, his collection of historical paintings and prints, and the folklore collection. These new rooms were opened in 1962 on the fiftieth anniversary of the liberation of Chios and today form the "Philip Argenti Museum". The museum now consists of two parts: the Folklore Museum, and the Picture Gallery, while the books have been incorporated into the book collections of the Korais Library.

family

Argenti married on February 20, 1930 in St Sophia, Moscow Road, Bayswater, London, England Alexandra Helen (Stephen) Schilizzi , also of old Chiot nobility, born on April 28, 1904 in London, died on March 23, 1988 in London, England. This marriage had three children: 1. Fanny Sybil (Philip) Argenti, born on February 28, 1931, residing in London, England, died after 1984; 2. Georgina Julia Susan (Philip) Argenti, born November 28, 1939, residing in London, England; and 3. Pandely Paul Lorenzo Stephen (Philip) Argenti, born December 22, 1943, residing in London, England.

Awards

Argenti's services to the island of Chios have been honored several times: in 1920 and 1953 the city of Chios presented him with an honorary citizenship certificate; he is also the holder of the gold medal of the city of Chios. In 1928 he was appointed Grand Officer of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher and Carrier of the Cross of Mount Athos. The Athens Academy honored him for his scientific works with their silver medal in 1938 and in 1947 he became their corresponding member. His military achievements for Greece have also received several awards.

portrait

• Philip P. Argenti, oil painting by Philip Alexius de László from April 1930, today in the Korais library in Chios town [1] .

Works

• 1922: Historia tou chiakou oikou Argente ( History of the Chiot House of Argenti ). En Athenais: PD Sakellarios. 371 pp.
• 1932: The Massacres of Chios: Described in Contemporary Diplomatic Reports . London: John Lane, The Bodley Head Ltd.
• 1933a: The Expedition of Colonel Fabvier to Chios: Described in Contemporary Diplomatic Reports . Edited with an introduction by Philip Argenti. London: John Lane, The Bodley Head Ltd.
• 1933b: Chius Liberata, or the Occupation of Chios by the Greeks in 1912, as Described in Contemporary Documents and Chios During the Great War . Edited with an Introduction by Philip P. Argenti. London: John Lane, The Bodley Head Ltd.
• 1934: The Expedition of the Florentines to Chios (1599): Described in Contemporary Diplomatic Reports and Military Dispatches . London: John Lane, The Bodley Head Ltd.
• 1935: The Occupation of Chios by the Venetians (1694): Described in Contemporary Diplomatic Reports and Official Dispatches . Edited with an Introduction by Philip P. Argenti. London: John Lane, The Bodley Head Ltd.
• 1937a: Mankanas (Mankana) Skarlatos N., (ed.) Χιας, ητοι Εμμετρος αφηγησις των κυριωτερων μυθολογικων και ιστορικων επεισοδιων της νησου Χιου απο των αρχαιοτατων αυτης χρονων μεχρι των καθ 'ημας ημερων. Ποιημα επικον… Εκδοθεν επιμελεια Φιλιππου Π. Αργεντη. ( Chios, that is… .. the best mythological and historical episodes of the island of Chios from the earliest times until today. Poems…. Edited… by Philippos P. Argenti). Αθηνησιν: Typois Pyrsou. pp. ιστ. 170.
• (Ed.) 1937b: Historia tēs nēsu Chiu: apo tōn archaiotatōn chronōn mechri tu 1700 M. Ch. ( History of the island of Chios from the earliest times to 1700 AD, by Konstantin A. Sgouros ). 2 vols. Edited by Philip P. Argenti. Athens: Pyrsos.
• 1940: Bibliography of Chios: From Classical Times to 1936 . Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• 1941: Chius Vincta or the Occupation of Chios by the Turks (1566) and Their Administration of the Island (1566-1912): Described in Contemporary Diplomatic Reports and Official Dispatches . Edited with an Introduction by Philip P. Argenti. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• (Ed.) 1943: Hieronimo Giustiniani's History of Chios . Edited, with an introduction by Philip P. Argenti. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• 1946: (together with) Stilpon P. Kyriakidis: Ē Chios para tus geōgraphus kai periēgētais. ( Chios among geographers and travelers ). 3 vols. Athens: Estia.
• 1949 (together with) Herbert Jennings Rose: The Folklore of Chios . 2 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• 1953: The Costumes of Chios: Their Development from the XVth to the XXth Century . London: BT Batsford Ltd., 4 Fitzhardinge Street, Portman Square London, WIXVI. 338 pp., 111 plates.
• (Ed.) 1954: Diplomatic Archive of Chios, 1577-1841 . 2 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• 1955a, b: Libro d'Oro de la Noblesse de Chio . 2 Vols. Vol. 1: Notices Historiques . Vol. 2: Arbres Généalogiques . Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Vol. 1 Argenti - Argentes, pp. 51-56. Vol. 2: Stammtafel, pp. 9-15).
• 1958a, b, c: The Occupation of Chios by the Genoese and Their Administration of the Island 1346–1566: Described in Contemporary Documents and Official Dispatches. With a Preface by Sir Steven Runciman . 3 Vols. Vol. I: Text . Vol. II: Codex and Documents . Vol. III: Notarial Deeds . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• 1962: Smith, Arnold C .: The Architecture of Chios: Subsidiary Buildings, Implements and Crafts . Edited by Philip Argenti. London: Tison. VIII, 171, 226 pp.
• 1966: The Occupation of Chios by the Germans and their Administration of the Island: Described in Contemporary Documents . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• 1970: The Religious Minorities of Chios: Jews and Roman Catholics . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 581 pp.
• 1979: The Mahona of the Giustiniani. Byzantine Research Vol. 6, pp. 1–35.

literature

• See Christopher A. Long's page under Web Links
• Who Was Who 1971–1980. A Companion to Who's Who Containing Biographies of Those Who Died During the Decade 1971–1980 . Who Was Who vol. VII. London: Adam and Charles Black, p. 24 (“Argenti, Philip Pandely”).
• World Biographical Information System . Keyword “Argentes, Philippos” [2]

Web links

• Christopher A. Long on the Argenti family [3]
• Christopher A. Long's entry on Philip Pandely Argenti [4]

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Philip P. Argenti (1955a): Libro d'Oro de la Noblesse de Chio . Vol. 1: Notices Historiques . Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 51.
2. ↑ Philip P. Argenti (1955b): Libro d'Oro de la Noblesse de Chio . Vol. 1: Arbres Généalogiques . Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 9.
3. ↑ See e.g. B. the architecture collection by Arnold Smith (1962) or the story of Chios by Konstantinos Sgouros (1937b).