Athanasios Psalidas ( el, Αθανάσιος Ψαλίδας; 1767–1829), was a
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
author, scholar and one of the most renowned figures of the
modern Greek Enlightenment
The Modern Greek Enlightenment ( el, Διαφωτισμός, ''Diafotismos'', "enlightenment," "illumination"; also known as the Neo-Hellenic Enlightenment) was the Greek expression of the Age of Enlightenment.
Origins
The Greek Enlightenment w ...
.
Life
Early years and diaspora
Psalidas was born at 1767 in
Ioannina
Ioannina ( el, Ιωάννινα ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus, an administrative region in north-western Greece. According to the 2011 census, the c ...
, where he completed ground level education. He continued his studies in
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
(now
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
,
Poltava
Poltava (, ; uk, Полтава ) is a city located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the capital city of the Poltava Oblast (province) and of the surrounding Poltava Raion (district) of the oblast. Poltava is administratively ...
) in
Slavic Poltava Seminary (1785–1787) and in
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
(1787–1795). In 1791 he published his first work, ''Real bliss'' (Αληθής Ευδαιμονία), written in both Greek and Latin. With this work he reestablished fundamental theoretical positions on the existence of God, immortality, afterlife, freedom of man, and the concept of the limits of freedom.
During his studies, Psalidas worked in several Greek editorial companies and printing houses that were established in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, notably the newspaper ''
Ephimeris
''Efimeris'' ( el, Εφημερίς) was a Greek language newspaper published in Vienna from 1790 to 1797. It is the oldest Greek newspaper of which issues have survived till today.
History
In 1790, the Greek typographers Poulios Markidis-Pouli ...
'' ( el, Εφημερίς, "newspaper" in Greek), published in Vienna since 1791. During the same period he published several books. In 1792, together with the
Cypriot
Cypriot (in older sources often "Cypriote") refers to someone or something of, from, or related to the country of Cyprus.
* Cypriot people, or of Cypriot descent; this includes:
**Armenian Cypriots
**Greek Cypriots
**Maronite Cypriots
**Turkish C ...
Ioannis Karatzas
Ioan Gheorghe Caragea (sometimes Anglified as John Caradja; History of the Romanian language, pre-modern Romanian: ''Ioan Gheorghie Caragea'', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Cyrillic: Їωан Геωргïє Караџѣ; Greek language, Greek: Ἰ ...
, he published the work ''Love's results'' (Έρωτος αποτελέσματα), consisting of three romantic stories. This work was subsequently reprinted five times from 1792 to 1836. In 1793 he was interrogated by the Austrian police as suspect of
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
and pro-
French revolutionist. Psalidas denied the charges, but his stay in Vienna was unsafe and decided to return to
Ottoman-ruled Greece in 1796.
Schoolmaster in Ioannina
He returned to his native
Ioannina
Ioannina ( el, Ιωάννινα ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus, an administrative region in north-western Greece. According to the 2011 census, the c ...
, then a prospering city with a large expatriate merchant class and a major cultural center of the Ottoman Greek world. There he became the director of the city's most renowned school, the
Maroutsaia School
The Maroutsaia School ( el, Μαρουτσαία Σχολή) or Maroutsios was a Greek educational institution that operated in Ioannina from 1742 to 1797. The school reached its peak under Eugenios Voulgaris, one of the main representative of t ...
(at that time renamed to
Kaplaneios), founded by the bequest of two local merchants, the brothers Lambros and Simon Maroutsis. Psalidas remained at this post for 25 years. During this time he enhanced the school's curriculum by introducing lessons in history, geography, natural sciences, economics and foreign languages. Psalidas also brought with him educational equipment and special instruments in order to teach astronomy and perform a number of chemical and physical experiments. His lessons were not only watched by his students, but also by locals that admired his work. He also equipped the school's library, which was also open to public and hired qualified teaching personnel. Moreover, he offered scholarships to the best of his students.
Psalidas had also to deal with conservative circles, who distrusted and bitterly criticized his innovations and promotion of the "atheist" ideas of
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...
and many of the ideals of the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
. In refutation of their allegations, he published the work ''Moves towards progress'' (Καλοκινήματα). Psalidas had become one of the most distinguished personalities of city of Ioannina. He participated in local courts, councils and was also adviser to
Ali Pasha Ali Pasha was the name of numerous Ottoman pashas named Ali. It is most commonly used to refer to Ali Pasha of Ioannina.
People
* Çandarlı Ali Pasha (died 1406), Ottoman grand vizier (1387–1406)
* Hadım Ali Pasha (died 1511), Ottoman grand v ...
, who also sent him several times to Western Europe in diplomatic missions.
Last years
![Alithis Efdaimonia](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Alithis_Efdaimonia.JPG)
Psalidas found refuge in nearby
Zagori
Zagori ( el, Ζαγόρι; rup, Zagori), is a region and a municipality in the Pindus mountains in Epirus, in northwestern Greece. The seat of the municipality is the village Asprangeloi. It has an area of some and contains 46 villages known as ...
, when armed conflict between Ali Pasha and the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
broke out (1820–1822).Thereafter he lived in
Corfu
Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...
, where he became doctor of the
Ionian Academy
The Ionian Academy ( el, Ιόνιος Ακαδημία) was the first Greek academic institution established in modern times. It was located in Corfu. It was established by the French during their administration of the island as the ''département ...
, but he was denied the opportunity to teach because of his progressive ideas. Later he became director of the school of
Lefkada
Lefkada ( el, Λευκάδα, ''Lefkáda'', ), also known as Lefkas or Leukas (Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Λευκάς, ''Leukás'', modern pronunciation ''Lefkás'') and Leucadia, is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea on the west coast of Gr ...
, where he died, in 1829.
Positions on the Greek language question
When young, Psalidas adopted an archaist Greek language, but when by the time he had become "the most prominent teacher in Ioannina" he used
Demotic Greek
Demotic Greek or Dimotiki ( el, Δημοτική Γλώσσα, , , ) is the standard spoken language of Greece in modern times and, since the resolution of the Greek language question in 1976, the official language of Greece.
"Demotic Greek" (w ...
. He also disagreed with the position of
Adamantios Korais
Adamantios Korais or Koraïs ( el, Ἀδαμάντιος Κοραῆς ; la, Adamantius Coraes; french: Adamance Coray; 27 April 17486 April 1833) was a Greek scholar credited with laying the foundations of modern Greek literature and a major ...
, on the ''
katharevousa
Katharevousa ( el, Καθαρεύουσα, , literally "purifying anguage) is a conservative form of the Modern Greek language conceived in the late 18th century as both a literary language and a compromise between Ancient Greek and the contempor ...
'' (the "purified" language, a mix between archaism and demoticism). He is considered one of the possible authors of the anonymous ''
Hellenic Nomarchy: A Discourse on Freedom'' (Ελληνική Νομαρχία) and ''
Rossaglogallos'' (Ρωσαγγλογάλλος).
Sources
The necessary nation.Gregory Jusdanis. Princeton University Press, 2001. .
Journal of the history of ideasProject Muse, JSTOR (Organization). Journal of the History of Ideas, Inc., 1960.
The revival of Greek thought, 1620-1830.George Patrick Henderson. State University of New York Press, 1970. .
Greeks in Russian military service in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries Nicholas Charles Pappas. Institute for Balkan Studies, 1991.
External links
Psalidas Ath. "Vera Felicitas - Αληθής Ευδαιμονία", Wien, 1791, vol. 1
{{DEFAULTSORT:Psalidas, Athanasios
1767 births
1829 deaths
Modern Greek-language writers
People of the Modern Greek Enlightenment
Writers from Ioannina
Maroutsaia School alumni
19th-century Greek educators
19th-century Greek writers
18th-century Greek educators
18th-century Greek writers