The Zosimades ( el, Ζωσιμάδες) or Zosimas brothers were 18th-19th century

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 ...

benefactors and merchants. The Zosimades were six brothers: *Ioannis Zosimas (1752–1771) * Anastasios Zosimas (1754–1828) * Nikolaos Zosimas (1758–1842) *Theodosios Zosimas (1760–1793) * Zois Zosimas (1764–1828) *Michael Zosimas (1766–1809) They were born in

Ioannina Ioannina ( el, Ιωάννινα ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus, an administrative region in north-western Greece. According to the 2011 census, the c ...

, a city that was under Ottoman rule and a major center of the

Greek Enlightenment The Modern Greek Enlightenment ( el, Διαφωτισμός, ''Diafotismos'', "enlightenment," "illumination"; also known as the Neo-Hellenic Enlightenment) was the Greek expression of the Age of Enlightenment. Origins The Greek Enlightenment w ...

that time. Their father was a local merchant, Panagis Zosimas. In 1775, Nikolaos, Theodosios and Michael started their trading activities in

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, while Ioannis, Anastasios and Zois ran their trade business in

Nizhyn Nizhyn ( uk, Ні́жин, Nizhyn, ) is a city located in Chernihiv Oblast of northern Ukraine along the Oster River. The city is located north-east of the national capital Kyiv. Nizhyn serves as the administrative center of Nizhyn Raion. It ...

(

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

) and then in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. Their trade network soon became profitable and they managed to make a fortune.

Benefaction

After Theodosis' death (1793), he wrote in his testament that they should financially support the education of their home city Ioannina. So they donated astronomical amounts of money for the establishment and function of various schools and public libraries. Another huge donation went for the ''National Library'', of

Adamantios Korais Adamantios Korais or Koraïs ( el, Ἀδαμάντιος Κοραῆς ; la, Adamantius Coraes; french: Adamance Coray; 27 April 17486 April 1833) was a Greek scholar credited with laying the foundations of modern Greek literature and a majo ...

, one of the major contributors of the Greek Enlightenment movement. Apart from educational institutions, orphanages were also financed. The Zosimades also subsidized the publication of several books. At 1820, after Zois' death, they supported the establishment of a new school in their home place, which became known as Zosimaia. This institution would become the center of Greek education the following century in the region of

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...

. During the following outbreak 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 ...

(1821–1830) the remaining Zosimades became active members of the patriotic organization Philiki Etaireia and supported financially the struggle. Zosimades also completely financed the erection of the Monetary Museum of Athens, donating their personal collection of Ancient Greek and Roman currency, as well as the orphanage 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 northernmos ...

Sources

* Fleming Katherine Elizabeth
''The Muslim Bonaparte: diplomacy and orientalism in Ali Pasha's Greece''
Princeton University Press, 1999. {{ISBN, 978-0-691-00194-4.
''Modern Greek studies yearbook''
University of Minnesota, 1989. * Sir John Edwin Sandys
''A History of Classical Scholarship: The eighteenth century in Germany, and the nineteenth century in Europe and the United States of America''
Hafner Pub. Co., 1967. * Prousis Theophilus Christopher
''Russian cultural response to the Greek War of Independence (1821-1830)''
University of Minnesota, 1982. Sibling groups Greek philanthropists Greek businesspeople Greek families People from Ioannina

Benefaction

See also

Sources