Logofet, Lycurgus

Lycurgus Logofet was born in 1772 in the town of Karlovasi, on the northern coast of the island of Samos, in the family of a shipowner.

Georgios began his studies at the school in Samos, but continued it in Constantinople, where his older brother Alexander lived.

After 5 years in Constantinople, George Paplomatas left for Wallachia, where he served as secretary at the court of Constantine Ipsilanti , until he was removed from Wallachia’s rule and fled to Russia. Leaving Wallachia, Ipsilanti recommended George to his successor Suzos , in whom George remained to serve as the first treasurer and second logofet. It was after this period of his life that the word Logofet was assigned to him as a surname ^[1] . After Suzos was removed from rule by the principality, George returned to Constantinople in 1802, where he represented his own autonomous Samos. According to a denunciation, in a conspiracy he was imprisoned by the Turks in 1808 and was then exiled to Mount Athos .

In self-governing, according to the regime of privileges, and without the Turkish population of Samos, the political situation and priorities differed from most of the Greek lands of the Ottoman Empire. Samosy were divided into two political parties: the so-called. the party "Kalikanzarov" (group Christmas demons), representing the nobility and landowners, and the party of the so-called. "Carmagnoles" (from Fr. Carmagnole, most likely in the meaning of Guillotine ), representing merchants and landless peasants ^[2] .

After the French Revolution, the struggle escalated and sometimes ended in military clashes. In 1807, pockets came to power. Logofet returned to the island in 1810 ^[3] . In the wake of Napoleon’s defeat in 1812 and the adoption of the “Holy Alliance” in Europe, the rule on Samos passed to the Kalikanzars, who expelled all the leaders of the Carmagnoles from the island ^[4] .

Logofett left for Smyrna. Here in 1819 he entered the secret Greek revolutionary society Filiki Eteria , choosing the pseudonym Lycurgus . Together with the surname Logofet attached to him after Wallachia, he later became famous and remained in history as Lycurgus Logofet ^[5]

With the beginning of the revolution in the Peloponnese , the Kalikanzars not only did not want to take part in it, but were ready to suppress any revolutionary actions. The leadership of the aristocratic party formed a committee of 12 people, in order to prevent the revolutionary movement ^[6] .

On April 14, 1821, 2 ships of the Spetses Island embarked on the strait between Samos and the Asia Minor coast. After 3 days, on April 17, Konstantinos Lahanas , with several "pockets", raided the house of the wealthy "Kalikanzar" and cut out the Turkish merchants who stayed there. Immediately, the Kalikanzars appealed to the Ottoman authorities to immediately send troops. But on April 24, ahead of the arrival of troops, Lycurgus Logofet landed on the island, together with the Apostle of Filiki Eteria, Dimitros Temelis ^[7] . The population of the island met Lycurgus Logofet as a savior and proclaimed him the political and military leader of the island.

On April 26, the whole of Samos, numbering 40 thousand souls, all Greeks, was raised to its feet. Unlike Samos, neighboring Chios avoided participating in the uprising even upon the arrival of the ships of rebellious Greece ^[8] . Lycurgus Logofet organized the island both militarily and politically on democratic principles ^[9] and “introduced a political system in which all authorities come from the people” ^[10] .

Lycurgus Logofet organized 4 "thousands" (each with 1,140 officers and privates). In parallel, he began the construction of his fortified headquarters, which later received the name "Lycurgus Fortress".

July 3, 1821 the Ottoman fleet stood in front of Samos. The order of the Kara-Ali fleet commander to surrender the Samiotes was rejected by Lycurgus Logofet. The rebels had only 5 small guns and, not being able to withstand the artillery of the Ottoman fleet, believed that they should retreat to the mountains. Lycurgus Logofet insisted on taking the battle on the coast and not allowing the creation of a bridgehead. The rebels repelled all attempts by the Turks to land. Kara-Ali requested reinforcements from Asia Minor. The deported 10 transports with regular and irregular troops were intercepted by the Greek fleet in time ^[11] .

For more than 2 thousand years, the Chios have played a prominent role in the trade of the Mediterranean. The Ottomans left the Chiosians the right to almost complete autonomy, since the Chios trade and the plantations of the mastic trees brought them large incomes. Great was the influence of the cosmopolitan chioses in Constantinople itself. Historians note that the ruling classes of the island did not want to join the war of liberation, fearing to lose their well-being ^[12] . They emphasized that Chios is located very close to Asia, in places up to 2 miles, to feel safe ^[13] . By the beginning of the Revolution, the island was inhabited by 120 thousand people, the Turks were 2 thousand ^[14] .

Greece is a small country, but geography and history have fostered a different character among residents of different regions and islands. Mild in nature and more inclined to commerce, the Chios were far from the warlike inhabitants of the Greek freemen Mani and Suli. Being seafarers, the Chios were different from their neighbors from the island of Psara , with their semi-pirate traditions, but also from the inhabitants of Samos, with its revolutionary traditions.

The first of the neighbors, on April 10, 1821, rebelled the island of Psara and began military operations at sea and raids on the Asia Minor coast. April 26 Samos revolted. On April 27, 1821, the Greek fleet stood in Paz Bay, but the elders of Chios refused to join the rebellion and asked the fleet to leave, although at that time there were only 500 Ottoman soldiers on the island. Chios continued to remain a year without rebellion.

In November 1821, Anthony Burnias, a native of Chios, who served in the army of Napoleon during a campaign in Egypt, appeared in Tripoli. Having asked for reception from Demetrius Ipsilanti appeared before him and his adjutant, the Frenchman Maxim Reibo . Burnias proposed to lead the expedition to Chios, but Ipsilanti decided that there were no forces and premises for the expedition and that the proposal of Burnias was an adventure ^[15] . Burnias left Tripoli empty-handed, but did not leave the idea and went to Samos.

Logofet supported Bournias. He did not recognize the argument that Chios was close to Asia: Samos was even closer (half a mile in places). Logofet could not agree that a year has passed since the uprising began, and Chios, with an almost completely Greek population, did not take part in it. On March 10, 2500 Samiotes landed in Limonas Bay on Chios. They had several cannons with a small number of cores. In the morning, 1,500 Turks left the fortress and tried to throw them into the sea, but the Samiots gained the upper hand in battle and locked them in the fortress. Many chiosites joined the autocrats ^[13] , but it should be noted that the majority of the population did not join the revolution and in no way can it be blamed for provoking the subsequent massacre ^[16] .

When the Samoths entered the city, they found most of the houses and shops locked: the owners wanted to show the Turks the lack of guilt on their part. Logofet's first action was the dissolution of the aristocratic council of elders. Then he turned for help to the islands of Psar, Hydra and Spetses . Psara responded and the next day his fleet patrolled between Chios and Asia. But Hydra and Spetses waited for the government to cover the previous expenses.

Meanwhile, Burnias did not come to terms with the idea that he, the Napoleonic officer and chios, must obey Logofet, appointed himself commander and opposed the Samots in everything.

As soon as the news of the uprising on Chios reached Constantinople, the sultan ordered the governors of Asia Minor to gather in Cesme . Ottoman troops flocked opposite Chios, along with the mob, ready to participate in the massacre and robbery. On March 24, the Ottoman fleet left Constantinople, led by the Kapudan Pasha of Kara-Ali: 34 frigates and brigs with troops on board. On March 30, the Ottoman fleet appeared at Chios. A flotilla of psariots prevented the landing of the Turks from Cesme, but could not resist the fleet and withdrew.

Panic started on Chios. Some of the residents went to the villages, the other remained, believing that they had not guilty. The first sloop with soldiers sent by Kara-ali ran aground and the Samiots killed all the Turks in it. Kara-ali began shelling the city with all the tools of the fleet. At the same time, the Turks came out of the fortress, but the Samoths of Logofet turned them back. Soon the landing from the ships began, and the Samiot, having scored their remaining cannon-free cannons, began to withdraw.

At the same time, the irregular hordes from Cesme began landing on the island. The order to the Turks was: "to grant life only to young people who agree to accept Islam, the elderly are excluded" ^[17] .

In the massacre that followed, out of 120 thousand inhabitants, 30 thousand were killed and 48 thousand were sold into slavery ^[18] . The rest fled and were taken out by the ships of the psariots. When the massacre ended, only 1,800 Greeks remained on the island ^[19] .

Logofet with the Samiotes retreated to the west of Chios, accompanying a large group of refugees. Logofet and the Samiotes were saved thanks to the captains Canaris and Nicodemos ^[20] .

From 1821 to 1824, the Ottoman Empire tried unsuccessfully to crush the Greek revolution. In 1824, the Turkish sultan turned for help to his vassal, Mohamed Ali , the ruler of Egypt, who had an army and navy organized by Napoleonic officers. The fleets of Algeria , Tunisia and Tripoli were also involved in the war at sea.

On May 27-29, 1824, the Egyptian fleet destroyed the island of Kasos . The belated mobilization of the Greek fleet enabled the Ottoman fleet to block Psar . After the heroic defense of the psariots, the Turks managed to land on the island and massacre the population .

The Turkish fleet was preparing to land on Samos. Opposite Samos, on the coast of Asia Minor, in anticipation of the massacre and robbery of the one of Chios, up to 60 thousand people of irregular detachments and mobiles gathered. Mourning the dead and settling families in the fortress of Monemvasia , the psariots began to prepare their surviving ships. The fleet of psariots went to Samos under the command of Admiral Apostolis with 10 ships and 5 firewalls .

The fleet of the island of Hydra was divided into two squadrons:

• The first, numbering 29 ships, went south to intercept the Egyptian fleet.
• The second went to Samos under the command of Sakhturis with 21 ships and 4 firewalls ^[21] .

The third to Samos was the fleet of the island of Spetses under the command of Admiral G. Kolandrutsos, numbering 15 ships and 2 firewalls ^[22] .

The inhabitants of Samos sent their families to the mountains and, under the command of Logofet, took up positions on the coast to reflect the landing of the Turks. On July 29, the Samiots repulsed an attempt by the Turks to land on the island’s northern coast, near the town of Karlovasi. On July 30, a fleet of idriots discovered the Turkish flotilla west of Samos, between the islands of Fourney and Ikaria . Although a landing was expected from the east, the flotilla came from the west. The Turkish flotilla totaled 50 ships with soldiers. Turkish ships were sunk. Killed 2 thousand Turkish soldiers.

After this, the fleet of idriots marched along the northern coast of the island and entered the Mikale Strait, where on the Asian side 5,000 Turks were preparing to board the ships. As the Greek fleet approached, Turkish ships left beyond Cape St. Marina ^[23] . 18 Turkish frigates entered the strait, but after the attack of the Greek firemen they retreated.

On August 1, Sakhturis wrote a bitter letter to Logofet, not seeing the Samiots occupy positions on the banks of the strait: "We are not here to taste your grapes, but to protect you." On August 2, Logofet and Metropolitan Kirill boarded the flagship to coordinate actions with the fleet, and assured Sakhturis that Samos would fight to the end.

On August 4, 40 Turkish ships entered the strait and began shelling Greek ships, the fortress and the positions of the Logofet revolutionaries on the White Cape, but again left it after the Greek attack in which the Canaris firewall distinguished itself ^[24] .

On August 5, the Turkish fleet again entered the strait. This time, within three hours, the Greek firemen destroyed 3 battleships, on which, in addition to the crews, 2 thousand soldiers died. The Turkish fleet fled from the strait to the south ^[25] .

The mobilized Greek fleet did not allow the Ottomans to land on Samos and arrange a massacre similar to the one that happened on the island of Chios . In the naval battle near the island of Samos , which lasted from July 30 to August 5, 1824, the Greek fleet won and forced the Ottoman fleet to withdraw to the Dodecanese Archipelago.

In commemoration of the victory and salvation of Samos on the day when the island celebrated the Transfiguration of the Lord (according to the Julian calendar), Logofet ordered the inscription “Christ saved Samos” ( Greek ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΣΑΜΟΝ ΕΣΩΣΕ ) to be knocked out on a marble slab in the Lycurgus Fortress in the town of Pythagoras. From this moment on, this phrase edged the personal seal of the Logofet and the seal of the official organs of revolutionary Samos. Subsequently, in order to commemorate the victory and salvation of Samos at the Lycurgus Fortress, the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord was built ^[26] .

On August 20, 1824, between the islands of Patmos and Kalymnos , the 1st and 2nd squadrons of Hydra, the 1st and 2nd squadrons of Spets and the Psara fleet met. This was the largest fleet formation since the beginning of the revolution: 70 armed ships, 5 thousand sailors and 800 cannons.

The Ottoman fleet joined the Dodecanese Islands with the fleets of Egypt, Algeria , Tunisia and Tripoli, and totaled more than 100 warships. According to Jurien de la Graviere , 400 transports should be added here. On board the united Muslim fleet there were 8 thousand sailors, 2 thousand gunners and 16 thousand soldiers. Hosref made it clear to Ibrahim , who led the Egyptian army and navy, that Samos, the last bastion of the Greek revolution in the eastern Aegean, remains the goal of the expedition.

On August 17, Tombazis informed that the Ottoman fleets were off the island of Kos . The Admiral Council decided to attack them between Kos and Halicarnassus ( Bodrum ). The commander of the Greek fleet Miaulis Andreas-Vokos gave a signal: the fleet to enter the strait. The victory for the Greek fleet was again presented by the firemen. At night, the Greek fleet left the strait and stood in the gulf of Gerontas on the Asia Minor coast. ^{[27] The} Greek fleet remained in the bay for 2 days, ready to intercept the Turkish fleet if it headed for Samos. On August 28, Turkish ships left Bodrum. The Greek fleet set sail, but the Turks turned and left for Bodrum. The Greek fleet was at the cliffs of Gidia. It was decided to return and again stand in the Gulf of Gerontas, but a weak wind allowed only 15 ships to stand in the bay. Among them is the flagship of Miaulis. The rest of the fleet, including all the ships of the island of Psara, embarked on a long-distance raid.

On August 29, in a battle with 86 Ottoman ships, which began under unfavorable conditions for the Greeks, the Greek fleet won, thanks to the naval skills of their sailors and the actions of Admiral psariots Apostolis . 2 Turkish ships were burned, including the Tunisian flagship, which killed 500 sailors and 800 soldiers. After that, the Turks lost their spirit and the flagships of Hosref, Ibrahim, Ishmael-Gibraltar and Algeria left the battle ^[28] .

Miaulis wrote: “Brothers, we defeated the enemy twice, but precisely because of these victories, we are in danger. Our 3 urgent needs today are: food ammunition and firewalls .... We are still confronted by more than 70 warships. We need a lot of firewalls. ” ^[29] .

The danger to Samos has not yet passed. The Greek fleet is located between the islands of Lipso and Arkius. September 6 appeared 200 Turkish ships going to Samos. With minimal supplies of ammunition and without firewalls, Miaulis gave the order to step back and stand in front of Samos. Lycurgus Logofet raised for the defense of the coast, in addition to the 4 thousand organized by him since 1821, the entire population of the island.

By evening, a thunderstorm broke out. The Turkish fleet ended up in the open sea and began to seek refuge. Turkish ships fled, many returned to Bodrum. "Samos was saved again." ^[30] On September 9, Hosref, leaving Ibrahim with the 15 best ships, hid in the Dardanelles, fleeing several Greek ships sent by Miaulis.

The ships of Idra stood west of Chios, and the specialties and psariots on the destroyed Psar. On September 22, the ships of Ibrahim appeared north of Chesma. Miaulis was afraid of a new attempt by the Turks to land on Samos and went to him, but not finding the Turks at Samos, went through the strait between Chios and Asia and found that the Turks were going to Lesbos . On September 25, Miaulis overtook the Turkish-Egyptian fleet and burned the fires of 2 Turkish ships. Ibrahim's fleet was in a panic, as a result of which many corvettes were thrown out on the coast of Lesbos ^[31] . After this battle, the Greek fleet returned, just in case, to Samos and Ibrahim was forced to return to Kos.

When transports from Alexandria with another 5 thousand soldiers arrived on Kos, Ibrahim decided to stop the venture with Samos and go to Crete , and from there to Peloponnese , which from the very beginning was the main goal of his expedition.

After the Battle of Samos, the Battle of Gerontas and the subsequent battles of Lesbos and Heraklion, the Turks made no attempt to capture Samos during the remaining months of 1824 and only 1825. On the other hand, this entire period was marked by Samiot raids on the coast of Asia Minor.

In July 1826, Khosref with 60 ships tried to suddenly land on Samos. Over the course of 7 days, the Turks tried to land an airborne assault, and the Samiots reflected these attempts.

On July 14, the Greek fleet approached. Having suffered another defeat in the strait between Samos and Asia Minor, the Turkish fleet went to the Dardanelles . The island remained free until the end of the war. Andreas Kalvos, one of the greatest Greek poets of the beginning of the 19th century, in his Ode to Samos wrote with admiration about the Samos revolutionaries led by Lycurgus Logofet: “Freedom requires virtue and smallness” (Greek Θέλει αρετή και τόλμη η ίλευθ.

At the same time, Lycurgus Logofet was charged as the perpetrator of the Chios tragedy, was summoned to the Peloponnese and spent several months in prison. Under Kapodistrias, he was rehabilitated and became the ruler of Nome Laconia . By decision of the "Great Powers" and in particular Great Britain, which was trying to limit the territory of the reviving Greek state, Samos remained outside its borders.

Lycurgus Logofett returned to the island and headed the so-called. The second stage of the Samos revolution, known as the "Samos state." In 1834, Samos was again denied reunification with Greece, but the island received autonomy status with the nominal power of the Sultan . Lycurgus Logofet and a thousand of his associates were forced to leave the island and settled in the south of the island of Euboea , on the swampy land provided to them by the Greek government. Lycurgus Logofet received the titles of State Advisor and Senator.

Lycurgus Logofet died in Athens in May 1850 ^[32] .

Academician Dionisios Kokkinos, in his multivolume History of the Greek Revolution, writes that Lycurgus Logofett would be a better choice for the place of the first ruler of Greece than Kapodistrias ^[33] . Long before Kokkinos, historian and participant in the Gudas War of Independence , Anastasios wrote his Comparative Biographies on the model of Plutarch , where he placed Lycurgus near Kapodistrias ^[34]

• ΑγαπητόςΣ. Αγαπητός. Οι Ένδοξοι Έλληνες του 1821, ή Οι Πρωταγωνισταί της Ελλάδος ( unopened ) 221-227. Τυπογραφείον Α. Σ. Αγαπητού, Εν Πάτραις (1877). Circulation date 13 Αυγούστου 2009.