Panagiotis Nikussios Mamonas [1] ( Greek Παναγιώτης Νικούσιος ; 1613 , Constantinople , Ottoman Empire - October 2, 1673 ) - statesman and diplomat of the Ottoman Empire . The great dragoman of Divan , the current head of the foreign policy of the empire (1669–1673). medic .
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Content
- 1 Biography
- 2 notes
- 3 Literature
- 4 References
Biography
Fanariot . Born in a wealthy family from Trabzon . Received an excellent education. He studied with the Jesuits on Chios . Then, he continued his studies at the Greek Orthodox Great School of the Nation in Constantinople, studied philosophy with Meletius Sirig in the same place, later medicine, mathematics and astronomy at the University of Padova . He was fluent in many foreign languages ( Turkish , Persian , Arabic and several European languages).
After returning from Italy, he worked as a doctor and his patients were the sultan himself and many foreign ambassadors.
Then he became the personal doctor of Köprül Mehmed Pasha and soon won the favor of the great vizier , who, learning about his great abilities and remarkable linguistic talents, decided that he would be more useful as a compiler of foreign dispatches and a translator for receiving foreign ambassadors.
From 1648 or 1649, he served as an OM translator at the Ottoman Embassy in the Habsburg Monarchy .
In 1669, Köprülü Mehmed Pasha created for Nikussios the post of the great dragoman of the High Port, that is, the chief translator and permanent acting head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In this capacity, Panayiotis was allowed to grow a beard, a privilege, until then forbidden for lay Christians in Turkey, to openly ride with four escorts and wear, together with his servants, hats trimmed with fur.
From 1669 until his death, he held the post of dragoman of the Ottoman Port. He was the first Christian in this post. His appointment as a great dragoman marks the beginning of the rise of the fanariots to high political and state posts in the government of the Ottoman Empire.
He played an important role in the negotiations that put an end to the long siege of Candia in 1669. As a reward for his success in diplomacy, he was given a lifetime tax collection in Mykonos .
As the great dragoman, Nikussios managed to get a firman , signed by the Sultan himself, in which the Orthodox were given the right to pilgrimage to the Holy Land .
Maecenas. Materially supported the construction of the Orthodox Novopetrovsk Church in Bucharest .
He collected a rich library containing many valuable manuscripts.
After his death in 1653, at the post of the Great Dragoman Divan, he was replaced by the fanariot Alexander Mavrokordato .
Notes
- ↑ He wore the nickname “Green Horse,” because of the saying that it’s easier to see a green horse than an intelligent person on Chios .
Literature
- Hering, Gunnar (1994). "Panagiotis Nikousios als Dragoman der kaiserlichen Gesandtschaft in Konstantinopel." Jahrbuch der österreichischen Byzantinistik. 44: 143-178. (German)