Ioannis Orlandos
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Ioannis Orlandos ( el, Ιωάννης Ορλάνδος) was a Greek politician and revolutionary who participated in 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 ...
.


Early life and Greek Revolution

His father Constantinos-Anagnostis Orlandos came from
Spetses Spetses ( el, Σπέτσες, grc, Πιτυούσσα "Pityussa", Arvanitika: Πετσε̱) is an upscale affluent island in Attica, Greece. It is included as one of the Saronic Islands. Until 1948, it was part of the old prefecture of Argolis ...
to Hydra in 1781. He was married with the daughter of Theodoros Ghikas, a notable citizen of Hydra. Orlandos was 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 settlers ...
and spoke fluently the local
Arvanitika 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 ...
of Hydra. His correspondence with
Georgios Kountouriotis Georgios Kountouriotis ( el, Γεώργιος Κουντουριώτης) (1782 – 13 March 1858) was a Greek ship-owner and politician who served as prime minister from March to October 1848. Life He was born in 1782 on the Saronic island of ...
is one of the few texts which have preserved the features of Hydriot Arvanitika. In Hydra, where he had been living since 1811, he married the sister of Georgios and
Lazaros Kountouriotis Lazaros Kountouriotis ( el, Λάζαρος Κουντουριώτης; 1769 - 6 June 1852 or 12 June 1852) was a Greek Senator of the 1844 Senate and a major actor of the Greek War of Independence. Life Lazaros Kountouriotis was born in Hydra in A ...
, Hydriote landlords and shipowners. He was also a significant shipowner before the
revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
. At the start of it, he gave all his ships to the revolutionary government. He became a delegate from Hydra at the
First National Assembly at Epidaurus The First National Assembly of Epidaurus (, 1821–1822) was the first meeting of the Greek National Assembly, a national representative political gathering of the Greek revolutionaries. History The assembly opened in December 1821 at Piada (to ...
and a member of the twelve-member committee that modified the text of the first constitution. He had the position of the vice-president of the legislative corps from 13 January until April 1823. On 26 April and after Lazaros Kountouriotis denied the position, he was elected president of the legislative corps. A month later, on 22 May 1823, disappointed by the way politics had taken and anticipating the upcoming civil war, he resigned from his post. His political opponents had already accused him of factionalism due to the assistance he provided to Kountouriotis. In June 1823 he became a member of a committee jointly with Andreas Louriotis and
Andreas Zaimis Andreas Asimakis Zaimis ( el, Ανδρέας Ζαΐμης; 1791 – 4 May 1840) was a Greek freedom fighter and government leader during the Greek War of Independence. Biography Born in Kalavryta, in the northern Peloponnesos, Zaimis was a priva ...
to negotiate about a loan in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. Before departing for the British capital, he wrote a letter about the need for unity and avoidance of civil wars. Also, on November 1823 he visited
Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...
in
Kephalonia Kefalonia or Cephalonia ( el, Κεφαλονιά), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallenia (), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios. It ...
. In January 1824, he and Louriotis, a man of
Mavrokordatos The House of Mavrocordatos (also Mavrocordato, Mavrokordatos, Mavrocordat, Mavrogordato or Maurogordato; el, Μαυροκορδάτος) is the name of a family of Phanariot Greeks originally from Chios, a branch of which was distinguished in th ...
, was the Greek ambassadors who made the negotiations and finally borrowed the first British loan during the revolution, £800,000. In London, they were formally welcomed and they even met the
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...
,
George Canning George Canning (11 April 17708 August 1827) was a British Tory statesman. He held various senior cabinet positions under numerous prime ministers, including two important terms as Foreign Secretary, finally becoming Prime Minister of the Unit ...
. He was a member of the delegation who, in 1825, summed the second loan, £2,000,000. He returned to Greece on 1825 and continued representing Hydra at the National Assemblies.


Life in independent Greece

Orlandos was a member of the
English Party The English Party ( el, Αγγλικό Κóμμα), was one of the three informal early Greek parties that dominated the political history of the First Hellenic Republic and the first years of the Kingdom of Greece during the early 19th century, ...
, considering the UK as the most effective country as of helping the revolution. He selected them due to the Kingdom's liberal political heritage and also its superiority in the sea. Then, he joined the anti-Kapodistrian faction stating that he preferred Greece a British protectorate instead of tolerating Ioannis Kapodistrias' authoritarian administration. So he took part in the anti-Kapodistrian demonstrations of Hydra, during the summer of 1831. After all these and in searching for
scapegoats Scapegoating is the practice of singling out a person or group for unmerited blame and consequent negative treatment. Scapegoating may be conducted by individuals against individuals (e.g. "he did it, not me!"), individuals against groups (e.g., ...
to apologize for the loans, he and Louriotis were accused of wrongful administration. They were firstly acquitted but, in 1835 the court characterised them responsible for the loss of £28,769. In 1839 they published their huge apology in two volumes which they later renounced. In 1837 he was one of the founding members of the
Archaeological Society of Athens The Archaeological Society of Athens (Greek: Εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογική Εταιρεία) is an independent learned society. Also termed the Greek Archaeological Society, it was founded in 1837 by Konstantinos Bellios, just a fe ...
.


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Orlandos, Ioannis 1770 births 1852 deaths Speakers of the Hellenic Parliament Greek people of the Greek War of Independence People from Hydra (island) People from Spetses English Party politicians Arvanites