Spyridon Valettas (1779 - 11 June 1843) was a Greek scholar, a member of the

Filiki Eteria Filiki Eteria or Society of Friends ( el, Φιλικὴ Ἑταιρεία ''or'' ) was a secret organization founded in 1814 in Odessa, whose purpose was to overthrow the Ottoman rule of Greece and establish an independent Greek state. (''ret ...

and for a short time the first minister of education and ecclesiastics affairs in the short-lived government of Alexandros Mavrokordatos in 1841.

Biography

He was born in Chora in

Ios iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

island and came from a noble family. He was trained initially in Ios and later in

Patmos Patmos ( el, Πάτμος, ) is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. It is famous as the location where John of Patmos received the visions found in the Book of Revelation of the New Testament, and where the book was written. One of the northern ...

Sifnos Sifnos ( el, Σίφνος) is an island municipality in the Cyclades island group in Greece. The main town, near the center, known as Apollonia (pop. 869), is home of the island's folklore museum and library. The town's name is thought to come f ...

and

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

. From 1818 he served in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

as the secretary of the ruler Alexandros Soutsos. He translated many works, some by using a pseudonym. In 1818 he was also introduced to the

. In 1821 he moved to

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

, where he stayed until 1827. From 1827 until 1829 he stayed in Rijeka. In October 1829 he left for

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

, where he arrived in November. He went to Hydra at the assembly against Kapodistrias in August 1831 and in July 1832 he represented

to the Fifth National Assembly, as mentioned in the Greek Government Gazette. In 1833 he is in Athens. He translated many literary and political works. He took part in the Government of Mavrocordatos as Minister of Public Education and Ecclesiastics affairs from 24 June to 11 August 1841. He died on 11 June 1843, leaving his fortune to public educational institutions.

Sources

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valettas, Spyridon 1779 births 1843 deaths Greek politicians Greek revolutionaries Members of the Filiki Eteria People from Ios