Petros Vrailas Armenis (; 1812-1884) was a Greek philosopher,

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 ...

politician, and diplomat from

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 ...

(Kerkyra) in the Ionian Islands. He was politically active during the era of

British rule The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

, being elected president of the protectorate's Legislative Assembly. After the islands were ceded to the

Kingdom of Greece The Kingdom of Greece ( grc, label=Greek, Βασίλειον τῆς Ἑλλάδος ) was established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic. It was internationally recognised by the Treaty of Constantinople, where ...

in 1864, he became an MP for Corfu in the

Hellenic Parliament The Hellenic Parliament ( el, Ελληνικό Κοινοβούλιο, Elliniko Kinovoulio; formally titled el, Βουλή των Ελλήνων, Voulí ton Ellínon, Boule (ancient Greece), Boule of the Greeks, Hellenes, label=none), also kno ...

and served as a Greek diplomat, including as

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

Family

Petros Vrailas Armenis was the son of Demetrios Vrailas, a merchant from

Vonitsa Vonitsa ( el, Βόνιτσα) is a town in the northwestern part of Aetolia-Acarnania in Greece, seat of the municipality of Aktio-Vonitsa. Population 4,916 (2011). The beach town is situated on the south coast of the Ambracian Gulf, and is domina ...

Acarnania Acarnania ( el, Ἀκαρνανία) is a region of west-central Greece that lies along the Ionian Sea, west of Aetolia, with the Achelous River for a boundary, and north of the gulf of Calydon, which is the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. Today i ...

(then part of 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) ...

, and Anna Angiola Armeni from Corfu. The Armenis family has roots in the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

and was present in the Ionian Islands during the Venetian era.

Role in Corfiote culture

Vrailas Armenis completed his general education in Corfu before undertaking higher education in Western European cities, including Paris. He trained as a lawyer while studying philosophy. After returning to Corfu, he was involved in 1836 in founding the Corfu Reading Society, of which he became the first chairman. The society made European periodicals available for readers. He was also involved in founding the newspaper ''Patris'' in 1849. Historian Sakis Gekas describes him as "an emblematic figure of the Corfu liberal bourgeoisie." He was a professor of philosophy at 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 ...

, the first Greek academic institution to be established in the modern era. His philosophical and cultural works include ''Περί πρώτων ιδεών και αρχών δοκίμιον'' (An Essay of First Ideas and Principles, 1851) and ''Περί της Ιστορικής Αποστολής της Ελλάδος'' (The Historical Mission of Greece). Constantine Cavarnos, a writer on religious and philosophical subjects, calls him "foremost Greek philosopher of the nineteenth century."

Political career during British rule

During the British protectorate, Vrailas Armenis supported union (enosis) with Greece, but opposed the radicalism of the Party of Radicals. He approved of British-style constitutional monarchy; his political faction pushed for the Ionian Islands to similarly be governed constitutionally. In 1864, the United Kingdom awarded him the Knight's Grand Cross of the

Order of St. Michael and St. George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

(GCMG), making him "Sir Petros" to the British.

Greek diplomatic career

In 1865, Vrailas Armenis became Greece's Minister of Foreign Affairs. He also served as Greece's ambassador to the United Kingdom, Russia, and France. He and

Theodoros Deligiannis Theodoros Deligiannis () was a Greek politician, minister and member of the Greek Parliament, who served as Prime Minister of Greece five times from 1885 to 1905. He led the Nationalist Party, which, alongside the New Party led by his prima ...

represented Greece at the

Congress of Berlin The Congress of Berlin (13 June – 13 July 1878) was a diplomatic conference to reorganise the states in the Balkan Peninsula after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, which had been won by Russia against the Ottoman Empire. Represented at th ...

Legacy

Vrailas Armenis died in London in 1884. His estate in Corfu was known as the ''Villa Vraila''. The Achilleion Palace was later built in the same location by the new owner,

Empress Elisabeth of Austria Duchess Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie in Bavaria (24 December 1837 – 10 September 1898) was Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary from her marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph I on 24 April 1854 until her assassination in 1898. Elisabeth was ...

Notes

Sources

*Cavarnos, Constantine, 1987. ''Modern Greek Philosophers on the Human Soul: Selections from the Writings of Seven Representative Thinkers of Modern Greece''. *Gekas, Sakis, 2016. ''Xenocracy: State, Class, and Colonialism in the Ionian Islands, 1815-1864.'' *Glycofrydi-Leontsini, Athanasia, 2017. Petros Vrailas-Armenis: History and Philosophy in National Context. Hansmichael Hohenegger and Riccardo Pozzo. ''Relations de la philosophie avec son histoire.'' https://iris.univr.it/retrieve/handle/11562/972559/89168/Finale_LIE_ENTRETIENS.pdf * *Kitromilides, Paschalis M., 1994 John Locke and the Greek Intellectual Tradition: An Episode in Locke's Reception in South-East Europe. G.A.J. Rogers. ''Locke's Philosophy: Content and Context.'' https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/61183538.pdf *Merry, Bruce, 2004. ''Encyclopedia of Modern Greek Literature.'' * *