Grigorios Zalykis ( el, Γρηγόριος Ζαλύκης; french: Grégoire Zalykis) (1785 – 4 October 1827) 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 ...

scholar, writer and diplomat. He was the founder of the "Greek-speaking Hotel" ( Hellenoglosso Xenodocheio or ''Ελληνόγλωσσο Ξενοδοχείο''), a secret organization established in Paris in 1809 to assist Greeks against Ottoman rule.

Biography

Grigorios Zalykis was born in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

in 1785. His father was Georgios Zalykis, and sometimes he was given the usual Ottoman suffix of "oglu", as in ''Zalykoglous'' (Zalykis' son). He attended school in his hometown and then went to

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 ...

to study with the academic Lampros Fotiadis. With Fotiadis, Grigorios Zalykis studied Greek and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

literature. In 1802, the potentate of

Walachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and so ...

, Skarlatos Kallimachis, sent him to Paris for political issues. He settled there and became

Marie-Gabriel-Florent-Auguste de Choiseul-Gouffier Marie-Gabriel-Florent-Auguste de Choiseul (27 September 1752, Paris – 20 June 1817, Aix-la-Chapelle), called Auguste de Choiseul-Gouffier (), was a French diplomat and aristocrat from the Gouffier branch of the Choiseul family. A member of the ...

's secretary, helping him to publish his book ''Voyage pittoresque en Grèce''. Zalykis wrote two dictionaries, one in French and one in modern Greek. Zalykis was the founder of the "Greek-speaking Hotel", Hellenoglosso Xenodocheio, a secret organization established in 1809. It was a precursor of

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 sought to mobilize the Greeks against Ottoman rule. In 1816, Zalykis became the first secretary of the Ottoman embassy in Paris. He worked there until 1820, then went back in Bucharest. After the uprising of the Greek War of Independence, he went to

Transilvania 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 ...

and then to Bessarabia where he wrote the book ''Dialogue about the Greek revolution'' in 1822. Zalykis went to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, where he met emperor

Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and the Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to his death. He was the eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. The son of ...

and took important financial help. Going back to Paris, he developed brain fever and died on 4 October 1827.

References

General references

*''Dictionary of French Language'', Paris, 1809 (republished in 1815 in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

with the supervision of Vlantis Spyridonos). *''About the Social Treat'',

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...

's book, translated by Grigorios Zalykis and published with comments by Konstantinos Nikolopoulos. Funded by Zalykis' widow, Paris 1828. *''Dialogue about the Greek Revolution'', edited with comments by Agathon Lakedaemonios, Paris 1828. *Konstantinos Spathas
''Modern Greek Literature. Biographies of Famous Greek Scholars (1453-1821)''
Athens 1868, p. 685

Biography

References

General references

Further reading