Manto Mavrogenous
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| Manto Mavrogenous | |
|---|---|
| 1796 – July, 1848 | |
 Lithography of Manto Mavrogenous by Adam Friedel, 1827 |
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| Place of birth | Trieste, Austrian Empire |
| Place of death | Paros, Greece |
| Allegiance | .svg/22px-Flag_of_Greece_(1828-1978).svg.png){kind=small} Greece |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
Manto Mavrogenous (Greek: Μαντώ Μαυρογένους) (1796 - July, 1848) was a Greek heroine of the Greek War of Independence. A rich woman, she spent all her fortune for the Hellenic cause. Under her encouragement, her European friends contributed money and guns to the revolution.
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[edit] Early life
Manto Mavrogenous was born in Trieste, then in the Austrian Empire, now part of Italy. She was daughter of the merchant and member of the Filiki Eteria, Nikolaos Mavrogenes, and Zacharati Chatzi Bati. One of her ancestors, the great-uncle of her father, Nicholas Mavrogenes, was dragoman of the Ottoman Empire's fleet and Prince of Wallachia.
Being of aristocratic lineage and a beautiful woman, she grew up in an educated family, influenced by the Age of Enlightenment. She studied ancient Greek philosophy and history at a college in Trieste, and spoke French, Italian and Turkish fluently.
[edit] War of Independence
In 1809, she moved to Paros with her family, where she learned from her father that the Filiki Eteria was preparing the Greek Revolution and later, in 1818, after her father's death, she left for Tinos. When the struggle began, she went to Mykonos, the island of her origin, and invited the leaders of Mykonos to join the revolution.
She equipped, manned and "privateered" at her own expense, two ships with which she pursued the pirates who attacked Mykonos and other islands of Cyclades. On October 22, 1822, the Mykonians repulsed the Ottoman Turks, who had debarked on the island, under her leadership. She also equipped 150 men to campaign to Peloponnese and sent forces and financial support to Samos, when the island was threatened by the Turks. Later, Mavrogenous sent another corps of fifty men to Peloponnese, who took part in the siege of Tripolitsa and the fall of the town to the Greek rebels. Together, she spent money for the relief of the soldiers and their families, the preparation of a campaign to Northern Greece and the support of several philhellenes.
She later made a fleet of six ships and an infantry consisting of sixteen companies, with fifty men each, and took part in the battle in Karystos in 1822, and funded a campaign to Chios, but she did not prevent it from the massacre. Another group of fifty men was sent to reinforce Nikitaras in the battle of Dervenakia. When the Ottoman fleet appeared in Cyclades, she returned to Tinos and saled her jewelry to finance the equipment of 200 men who fought the enemy and cherish two thousand people who had survived from the first siege of Messolonghi. Her men participated in several other battles like those of Pelion, Phthiotis and Livadeia.
Mavrogenous led enlightment expeditions in Europe and addressed an appeal to the women of Paris, to side up with the Greeks who suffered from the Turkish occupation and held a harsh struggle for their liberation. The brave woman moved to Nafplio in 1823, in order to be in the core of the struggle, leaving her family as she was despised even by her mother because of her choices. It is the time that Mavrogenous met Demetrius Ypsilanti, with whom she was engaged. Soon, she become famous around Europe for her beauty and bravery. But in May of the same year, her home was totally burnt and her fortune was stolen, and as a result she went to Tripoli to live with Ypsilanti, while Papaflessas provided her with food.
| "The Greeks, born to be liberal, will owe their independence only to themselves. So I don't ask your intervention to force your compatriots to help us. But only to change the idea of sending help to our enemies. The war spreads the horrible death..." |
| The letter of Manto Mavrogenous to the women of Paris |
When Ypsilanti broke up with Mavrogenous, she went back to Nafplio, where she almost lived, deeply depressed, as a hobo and was not paid the debts of the money she had given for various battles. After Ypsilanti's death and her political conflicts with Ioannis Kolettis, she was exiled from Nafplio and returned to Mykonos, where she occupied with the writing of her memoirs. While spending her fortune for the sake of the Greek war, she used to live in great poverty.
When the war ended Ioannis Kapodistrias awarded her the rank of the Lieutenant General and granted her a dwelling in Nafplio, where she moved. She owned a treasurable sword, with the incription "Δίκασον Κύριε τους αδικούντας με, τους πολεμούντας με, βασίλευε των Βασιλευόντων", which is translated to 'Lord, judge those who wrong me, who battle me, reign the Regnants'. That sword is said to come from the times of Constantine the Great and Mavrogenous gave it to Kapodistrias.
[edit] Later years
Mavrogenous moved to Paros in 1840, where some of her relatives resided, and lived on the island where her home still stands as a historical monument, located close to the Panagia Ekatontapyliani (the Church of the Virgin Mary) which, tradition says, was founded by Saint Helena, mother of Constantine the Great. She died on Paros in July 1848, in oblivion and poverty, having spent all her fortune for the War of Independence.
[edit] Culture
To pay homage to Mavrogenous, the people of Mykonos have named after her Chora's central square where her bust has been raised. Greece has honored this heroine by naming several streets after her. The Greek government has released several commemorative coins in her honor.[1] There was also a film about the life of her, titled Manto Mavrogenous (1971), in which the famous heroine was portrayed by Tzeni Karezi.
[edit] References
- ^ Greece 2 drachmas 1992 (English). Fleur-de-Coin. Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
[edit] External links
- Greek Revolution 1821 - 1829
- Bust of Mavrogenous in Mykonos
- Mykonos: Manto Mavrogenous of Mykonos Greece, Cyclades
- Μέτωπο γυναικών (α' μέρος) (Greek)
- Μέτωπο γυναικών (β' μέρος) (Greek)
- Μαντώ Μαυρογένους (Greek)
- Μαντώ Μαυρογένους (Greek)
- Η γυναίκα στην Επανάσταση (Greek)
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