Christophorus Plato Castanis (; 1814–1866; also known as Christophoros Castanis or Castanes and Christoforos Kastanis or Kastanes) was a Greek-American academic, author and

classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

. Castanis was born at Livadia,

Chios Chios (; , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, tenth largest island in the Medi ...

on 1 April 1814 and lived much of his life in the United States.Christophorus Plato Castanis
, AHEPA (American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association) History ("Built with love by the Brother Knights in Tenafly, NJ"). Note: Livadia is a northern suburb of the town of Chios
see the section on Vrontados here.
/ref> He published an autobiography titled ''The Greek Exile'' in 1851, which told of his survival of the Chios massacre, his time in Ottoman slavery, and his emigration to America.

Personal life

Castanis was born to a wealthy Chiot family, and was one of eight siblings.Castanis, ''The Greek Exile'', 21. He was privately educated and one of his tutors was a member of 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 ...

. In 1822, during the Chios massacre, Castanis was captured and sold into slavery, where he was forcibly converted to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. According to his autobiography, Castanis made an escape and was reunited with his mother. They eventually fled on a

Cephalonia Kefalonia or Cephalonia (), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallonia (), 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 is also a separate regio ...

n ship and met with American relief agents at

Nafplio Nafplio or Nauplio () is a coastal city located in the Peloponnese in Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit of Argolis and an important tourist destination. Founded in antiquity, the city became an important seaport in the Middle Ages du ...

. American

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

and

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 ...

Samuel Gridley Howe Samuel Gridley Howe (November 10, 1801 – January 9, 1876) was an American physician, abolitionist, and advocate of education for the blind. He organized and was the first director of the Perkins Institution. In 1824, he had gone to Greece to ...

sponsored his migration to the US, along with Garafilia Mohalbi and

John Celivergos Zachos John Celivergos Zachos (; December 20, 1820 – March 20, 1898) was a Greek-American physician, literary scholar, elocutionist, author, lecturer, inventor, and educational pioneer. He was an early proponent of equal education rights for African A ...

.George J. Leber, ''The History of the Order of AHEPA (The American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association), 1922–1972: Including the Greeks in the New World, and Immigration to the United States'' (Washington, DC: The Order of AHEPA, 1972), 49. A PDF file of the book is availabl
here
According to Castanis, around forty Greek orphans emigrated to the United States in similar circumstances during this period. Some modern scholars, including

Gonda Van Steen Gonda Aline Hector Van Steen (born 8 April 1964 in Aalst, Belgium) is a Belgian-American classical scholar and Linguistics, linguist, who specialises in ancient and modern Greek language and literature. Since 2018, she has been Koraes Professor o ...

and Foteini Tomai, verify this, although question the nature of their 'orphan' status. Castanis married American Rutha H. Clark in

Worcester, MA Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...

on 22 October 1844. Castanis died in the US in 1866.

Career

Castanis arrived in New York City in 1831, and attended Mount Pleasant Classical Institute. He also attended

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

and

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

. In 1839 Castanis held a speaking tour, where he delivered lectures on

Greek 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 ...

. Many of his written works also dealt with Greek Independence. For example, Washington, DC's '' The Republic'' newspaper reported on his 1849 book, ''Oriental Amusing, Instructive, and Moral Literary Dialogues: Comprising the Love and Disappointment of a Turk of Rank in the City of Washington'', claiming it "…is made the vehicle, in a conversational form, of conveying the expression of the author’s republican sympathies in behalf of Greece and Turkey, as well as of discussing some

philological Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

questions, intended to prove that modern Greeks pronounce their language as the ancients did."

Other Greek American Slaves

* Garafilia Mohalbi * George Colvocoresses * Joseph Stephanini * Halet Logotheti

Published works

* Christophorus Plato Castanis, "Caroussis: An Authentic Sketch of the Massacre at Scio", '' The Knickerbocker; or, New-York Monthly Magazine'', Vol. XVII(1), New York, January 1841, 69–70
See in Google books
* Christophorus Plato Castanis, ''An Essay on the Ancient and Modern Greek Languages: Containing Remarks on the Accents, Pronunciation and Versification of the Greek Languages, with Historical Notices, Etc. To which is Added Extracts from Modern Greek Authors; Christopoulos on Versification; an Oration Delivered Before the New York Legislature; and a Guide to Acquire a Knowledge of the Modern Greek'', Allen, Morrill & Wardwell, Andover, Massachusetts, 1844
See in Google books
* Christophorus Plato Castanis, ''Interpretations of the Attributes of the Principal Fabulous Deities: With an Essay on the History of Mythology'', William Hyde, Portland, Oregon, 1844
See in Google books
* Christophorus Plato Castanis, ''A Love Tale: The Jewish Maiden of Scio's Citadel; or, The Eastern Star, and the Albanian Chief'', Philergomathia, 1845
See in Google books
* Christophorus Plato Castanis, ''Oriental Amusing, Instructive, and Moral Literary Dialogues: Comprising the Love and Disappointment of a Turk of Rank in the City of Washington'', John Putnam, Boston, 1849–1850
See in Google books
* Christophorus Plato Castanis, ''The Greek Exile; or, A Narrative of the Captivity and Escape of Christophorus Plato Castanis, During the Massacre on the Island of Scio, by the Turks, Together with Various Adventures in Greece and America'', Lippincott, Grambo, & Co., Philadelphia, 1851
See in Google books
* Christophorus Plato Castanis, ''The Greek Boy and the Sunday-School: Comprising ceremonies of the Greek church, mode of baptism, communion, picture-worship, etc.'', William S. Martien, Philadelphia, 1852
See in Worldcat

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castanis, Christophorus Writers from Chios Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to the United States Classical scholars Former slaves Greek slaves in the Ottoman Empire 19th-century slaves in the Ottoman Empire Writers of slave narratives 19th-century American people of Greek descent 1814 births 1866 deaths

Personal life

Career

Other Greek American Slaves

See also

Published works

References