Theophilos Kaïris

Theophilos Kaïris (1784-1853)

Theophilos Kaïris (actually: Thomas Kaïris, Greek Θεόφιλος Καΐρης ; * 1784 in Andros ; † January 13, 1853 in Syros ) was a Greek philosopher and revolutionary.

Life

Theophilos Kaïris attended elementary school on his native Cycladic island Andros and then studied at the theological school of Smyrna . He was ordained as a Greek Orthodox deacon in 1801 or 1802 and on this occasion changed his first name from Thomas to Theophilos. He studied at the school in Kydonies , Asia Minor, at the same time as Benjamin of Lesbos , who introduced him to contemporary science and Greek interpretations of the natural sciences and later became a member of the Filiki Eteria secret society founded in Odessa in 1814 . In 1803 he made a trip to Western Europe with Benjamin von Lesbos, where he met Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi in Switzerland , and then studied mathematics, natural sciences and philosophy in Pisa and Paris . There he adapted the ideas of the Enlightenment and met Bishop Frayssinous and the scholar Adamantios Korais . In 1819 he joined the Filiki Eteria . On May 18, 1821, Kaïris held fiery speeches in front of the Church of St. George on his home island and then on the islands of Hydra and Psara , during which he inspired the population to revolt against Ottoman rule . In 1822 he suffered a leg injury during the struggle for freedom, from which he could not fully recover until the end of his life.

In 1833 Kaïris was ordained a priest. In 1835 he opened a highly regarded non-profit school under the name Orphanotropheio (orphanage) on his home island Andros , which was moved to the island of Paros after his arrest in 1839 . He spoke ancient Greek, Latin, Italian, French, German and English and also studied archeology and botany, both in connection with Andros.

Based on the principles of theophilanthropy of the French Revolution , he developed the cult of Theosebie . For this purpose, influenced by the French revolutionary calendar, he created his own new calendar, in which the year 1801 was set as year 1. The year in this calendar consisted of 12 months of 30 days each, which were divided into three decades instead of weeks ; the last five anniversaries were kept separately and referred to as epacts . For the month names Kaïris chose terms that were borrowed from the ancient Greek Doric dialect . He abolished all Christian festivals, as well as Sunday (Greek: Κυριακή, "day of the Lord"), which was replaced by a simple "tenth" (day). However, this calendar had little impact, the mainly on his home island of Andros, the neighborly Cyclades -Insel Syros limited and some members of the Greek diaspora in various European countries. Because of his activities in the Theosebie Kairis was approved by the Greek Orthodox Church excommunicated . He also came into conflict with King Otto , who was appointed by the European great powers , although the king had offered him a position as director of the University of Athens and the Order of the Redeemer in gold, which Kaïris rejected in both cases.

In 1839 the Greek Orthodox Church initiated the first trial against Kaïris. He was banished to various monasteries on Aegina , Skiathos and Santorini and assigned the anathema . After he was allowed to leave Greece, he took the ship to Constantinople and went into exile in Paris and London , where he spent two years with like-minded Greek patrons.

After the coup in 1843 , a constitution was established. Ioannis Kolettis , a college friend from Pisa, had now become Prime Minister of Greece and introduced a law guaranteeing freedom of conscience , which enabled Kaïris to return to Greece.

After Kolettis' death in 1847, Kaïris lost his most important advocate. In a press campaign that was fought out in the newspapers Αἰών (The Century) and Ἁθηνᾶ (Athens), he was portrayed as a danger to the youth or as the new Socrates . His opponents started a new trial against him for proselytism , whereupon he was sentenced on December 21, 1852 by a civil court in Ermoupoli, the capital of the island of Syros, to a fine of 150 drachmas and a prison term of two years and ten days. Ten days later he died of natural causes, marked by illness.

On January 19, 1853, he was rehabilitated by the Areopagus , the Supreme Court of Greece. Towards the end of the 19th century, the poet Kostis Palamas wrote verses in his honor.

Evanthia Kaïri (1799–1866), the sister of Theophilus, was a well-known writer.

literature

• Dimitrios Paschalis: Theofilos Kairis. Athens 1928.
• Savitri Devi (actually: Maximine Portaz): Essai-Critique sur Théophile Kaïris. Thèse de doctorat, Lyon 1935.
• Gunnar Hering : Kairis, Thomazos . In: Biographical Lexicon on the History of Southeast Europe. Volume 2. Munich 1976, p. 320 f.
• Ekaterini Koumarianou : Καϊρικά μελετήματα. Καΐριος Βιβλιοθήκη, Andros 2007.

Web links

• Η Καϊρειος Βιβλιοθήκη ( The Library of Kaïris )
• About the school founded by Kairis