Prince Constantine Demetrius Mourouzis (, ; 1730 – 1 May 1787) was a

Phanariote Phanariots, Phanariotes, or Fanariots (, , ) were members of prominent Greek families in Phanar (Φανάρι, modern ''Fener''), the chief Greek quarter of Constantinople where the Ecumenical Patriarchate is located, who traditionally occupied ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

, and member of the

Mourousis family The House of Mourouzis () or Moruzi (, Muruzi) is the name of an old and distinguished noble family which was first mentioned in the Empire of Trebizond, whose members later occupied many important positions within Ottoman Empire, Wallachia, ...

. A remarkable polyglot, he spoke five languages:

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, French,

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

. In 1761, he became Grand ''

Postelnic ''Postelnic'' (, plural: ''postelnici,'' from the Slavic ''postel'', "bed"; cf. Russian '' postelnichy'') was a historical rank traditionally held by boyars in Moldavia and Wallachia, roughly corresponding to the position of '' chamberlain''. I ...

'' (foreign minister) in Moldavia, and soon after

Dragoman of the Fleet The Dragoman of the Fleet (; ) was a senior office in the Ottoman Empire, held by Phanariote Greeks during the 18th and early 19th centuries. As the chief deputy of the Kapudan Pasha, the Dragoman of the Fleet played a leading role in the administ ...

(deputy minister) of the Ottoman

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

, and eventually

Grand Dragoman The Dragoman of the Sublime Porte (Ottoman Turkish language, Ottoman Turkish: ; ), Dragoman of the Imperial Council (), or simply Grand Dragoman (, ) or Chief Dragoman (), was the senior interpreter of the Imperial Council (Ottoman Empire), Ottom ...

. There are indications that he was politically involved in the dismissal and assassination of his predecessor,

Grigore III Ghica Grigore III Ghica (1724 – 12 October 1777) was a prince of Moldavia and of Wallachia. Biography He was the son of Alexandru Matei Ghica, with the position of dragoman, who was beheaded by the Sublime Porte and nephew of Grigore II Ghica's b ...

, by the Porte.Brezianu, Andrei and Spânu, Vlad (eds.) (2007) "Moruzi. Constantin" ''Historical Dictionary of Moldova'' (2nd ed.) Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland, USA, p. 250, Trusted by the Porte, he obtained the throne of Moldavia on October 12, 1770. Mourouzis spent much of his time in Iaşi, supervising the gathering of agricultural resources demanded by the Porte, but also fought extravagant luxury and surrounded himself with scholars, paying particular attention to schools and founding scholarships. He was deposed on June 7, 1782, and exiled to the island of

Tenedos Tenedos (, ''Tenedhos''; ), or Bozcaada in Turkish language, Turkish, is an island of Turkey in the northeastern part of the Aegean Sea. Administratively, the island constitutes the Bozcaada, Çanakkale, Bozcaada district of Çanakkale Provinc ...

. He returned in 1783, but died soon after.

Notes

1783 deaths Dragomans of the Porte

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I * Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine g ...

Monarchs of Moldavia Postelnici of Moldavia Year of birth unknown Dragomans of the Fleet 1730 births 18th-century translators Constantinopolitan Greeks Diplomats from Istanbul 18th-century Moldavian people {{Romania-bio-stub