Adam Friedel or Adam Friedel von Friedelsburg (circa 1780 – circa 1868) was a Danish military man,

philhellene Philhellenism ("the love of Greek culture") was an intellectual movement prominent mostly at the turn of the 19th century. It contributed to the sentiments that led Europeans such as Lord Byron, Charles Nicolas Fabvier and Richard Church to a ...

and

buccaneer Buccaneers were a kind of privateer or free sailors, and pirates particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from the Restoration in 1660 u ...

. He is known for the portraits he painted of the heroes 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. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

Biography

After the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, where he served as an officer, Friedel travelled with a noble compatriot of his to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. He was initiated into the

Filiki Eteria Filiki Eteria () or Society of Friends () was a secret political and revolutionary organization founded in 1814 in Odesa, Odessa, whose purpose was to overthrow Ottoman Empire, Ottoman rule in Ottoman Greece, Greece and establish an Independenc ...

(Greek Society of Friends) and after numerous expeditions and missions in Russian territories, he ended up in Zakynthos. He witnessed the beginning of the Greek War of Independence in Peloponnese, where he enlisted in the army as a volunteer claiming to be Baron Friedel von Friedelsburg, a second lieutenant of aristocratic origin. Friedel met many fighters of the Greek War of Independence in person such as

Theodoros Kolokotronis Theodoros Kolokotronis (; 3 April 1770 – ) was a Greek general and the pre-eminent leader of the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829) against the Ottoman Empire. The son of a klepht leader who fought the Ottomans during the Orlov revolt ...

Nikitaras Nikitaras () was the nom de guerre of Nikitas Stamatelopoulos () (c. 17841849), a Greek revolutionary in the Greek War of Independence. Due to his fighting prowess, he was known as Turkofagos or Turkophagos (), literally meaning the "Turk-Eater" ...

Petrobey Mavromichalis Petros Mavromichalis (; 1765–1848), also known as Petrobey ( ), was a Greek general and politician who played a major role in the lead-up and during the Greek War of Independence. Before the war, he served as the Bey of Mani. His family h ...

Markos Botsaris Markos Botsaris (; 1790 – 21 August 1823) was a Souliot chieftain, general of the Greek revolutionary army and hero of the Greek War of Independence.Brigands with a Cause, Brigandage and Irredentism in Modern Greece 1821–1912, by John ...

Demetrios Ypsilantis Demetrios Ypsilantis (alternatively spelled Demetrius Ypsilanti; , ; , ; 179316 August 1832) was a Greek army officer who served in both the Hellenic Army and the Imperial Russian Army. Ypsilantis played an important role in the Greek War of I ...

Ioannis Kolettis Ioannis Kolettis (; 1773 or 1774 – 17 September 1847) was a Greek politician who played a significant role in Greek affairs from the Greek War of Independence through the early years of the Greek Kingdom, including as Minister to France and se ...

Alexandros Mavrokordatos Alexandros Mavrokordatos (; 11 February 179118 August 1865) was a Greek statesman, diplomat, politician and member of the Mavrocordatos family of Phanariotes. Biography In 1812, Mavrokordatos went to the court of his uncle John George Caradja ...

, etc. He also gained the trust of Demetrios Ypsilantis with his cultivation and proficiency in Greek and was thus assigned a multitude of missions. In June 1822, though, a compatriot of his who was a Danish sub-lieutenant unveiled his lies. Friedel was then discharged from the Greek army and in 1823 he travelled to Egypt in order to gather funds from his expatriates for the Greek War of Independence. 1824 found him in Messolonghi with

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

. However, when I.-I. Meyer published an article in the Greek newspaper Ellinika Chronika in which he warned philhellenic companies to avoid the fraudulent Friedel, he fled to London where he opened a lithographer’s shop. Once his hopes of a military career evaporated, Friedel showed his talent at painting. The 24 real-life portraits of the leaders of the Greek War of Independence which he created, were lithographically printed and colorized by J. Bouvier. These portraits circulated in Paris and London between 1825 and 1826 thus aiding the philhellenic committees in their effort to raise awareness in Europe of the Greek War of Independence. Because of health complications, Friedel was forced to leave England and head to southern France and then Italy before finally returning to Athens in 1849 where he was awarded two important decorations for his contribution to the Greek Struggle for Independence. He then travelled to Smyrna, where he taught at a Greek school for two years. Friedel stayed in the capital of the Ottoman Empire during the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

where he painted the portraits of several politicians. For reasons relating to his therapy again, he stayed in Bohemia until 1861 before heading back to Athens. He left again in 1863 and after a short stay in Istanbul, he returned yet again to Athens in 1865. There, he submitted a report to King George consisting of supporting documents, claims and information about his life and his contributions to the cause of Greece’s Independence, asking for a pension for his services to the country. It is not known when and where he died.

Gallery

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Friedel, Adam 1700s births Year of birth uncertain 1800s deaths 19th-century Danish painters 19th-century Danish lithographers Year of death uncertain Philhellenes in the Greek War of Independence