Lazaros Kountouriotis ( el, Λάζαρος Κουντουριώτης; 1769 - 6 June 1852 or 12 June 1852) was a Greek

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

of the 1844 Senate and a major actor of the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...

Life

Lazaros Kountouriotis was born in Hydra in April 1769 to an

Arvanite Arvanites (; Arvanitika: , or , ; Greek: , ) are a bilingual population group in Greece of Albanian origin. They traditionally speak Arvanitika, an Albanian language variety, along with Greek. Their ancestors were first recorded as settler ...

family. The family, apparently the richest in independent Greece, stemmed from the younger son of an

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

peasant. He settled the island as a boatman after the Venetians left the Peloponnese (1715) but before the island received its permanent colony. The Koundouriotis family used extensively their native

Arvanitic Arvanitika (; Arvanitika: , ; Greek: , ), also known as Arvanitic, is the variety of Albanian traditionally spoken by the Arvanites, a population group in Greece. Arvanitika is today endangered, as its speakers have been shifting to the use ...

dialect of Hydra. After the family moved to Hydra, they adopted the surname "Zervas" which was later dropped when Lazaros' grandfather, Hatzigeorgios Zervas, visited a family friend in the Kountouria region and returned wearing a local to that area dress, adopting the nickname of "Kountouriotis" which eventually replaced the surname. Lazaros' father, Andreas, used the new surname of Kountouriotis and married the daughter of the very influential and rich merchant Lazaros Kokkinis. Lazaros Kountouriotis was the eldest of two children, his younger brother by 13 years was

Georgios Georgios (, , ) is a Greek name derived from the word ''georgos'' (, , "farmer" lit. "earth-worker"). The word ''georgos'' (, ) is a compound of ''ge'' (, , "earth", "soil") and ''ergon'' (, , "task", "undertaking", "work"). It is one of the most ...

. At the age of 14, Lazaros became involved in the commercial activities of his father, representing him in Hydra while the elder Kountouriotis was on business in

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

. After his father's assassination in 1799, Lazaros continued running the family's interests and grew it substantially. Although he was not one of the initial instigators of the revolution, which he considered premature, he supported it fully after it began. At the time, his fortune was estimated to be at least 800,000 reals and he spent 3/4s of it for the revolution. While serving as a Senator and considered as the First Citizen of Greece, he died on 6 June 1852 and a five-day period of national mourning followed. The playwright Pantelis Horn was Lazaros' great-grandson.

Sources and references

# {{DEFAULTSORT:Kountouriotis, Lazaros 1769 births 1852 deaths 19th-century Greek politicians People from Hydra (island) Greek people of the Greek War of Independence Members of the Greek Senate Greek businesspeople in shipping 19th-century Greek businesspeople Arvanites