George Finlay
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George Finlay (21 December 1799 – 26 January 1875) was a Scottish historian.


Biography

Finlay was born in
Faversham Faversham () is a market town in Kent, England, from Sittingbourne, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2 road (Great ...
,
Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
, where his Scottish father, Captain John Finlay FRS, an officer in the
Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...
, was inspector of government powder mills. Finlay's father died in 1802, and his Scottish mother and uncle ( Kirkman Finlay) took hand of his education. His love of history was attributed to his mother. Intended for the law, he was educated at the
University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...
, the
University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...
, and the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
, but becoming an enthusiast in the cause of
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
, in 1823 he joined
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 ...
in the
war of independence Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...
. Thereafter he bought a property near
Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
, where he settled and busied himself with schemes for the improvement of the country, which met with little success. Although he formed an unfavourable opinion of the Greek leaders, both civil and military, he did not lose his enthusiasm for their cause. A severe attack of fever, combined with other circumstances, induced him to spend the winter of 1824–1825 and the spring of 1825 in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
,
Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
and
Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
. He then returned to Scotland, and, after spending a summer at Castle Toward, Argyllshire, went to
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
, where he passed his examination in civil law at the university, with a view to being called to the Scottish bar. However, his enthusiasm for Greece took him back there for good. He took part in the unsuccessful operations of Lord Cochrane and Sir Richard Church for the attempted relief of Athens in 1827. When independence had been secured in 1829 he bought a landed estate in
Attica Attica (, ''Attikḗ'' (Ancient Greek) or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the entire Athens metropolitan area, which consists of the city of Athens, the capital city, capital of Greece and the core cit ...
, but all his efforts for the introduction of a better system of agriculture ended in failure, and he devoted himself to the literary work which occupied the rest of his life, and for many years, he acted as the special correspondent of the London ''Times''. Finlay was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1838, and in 1854 he received from the university of Edinburgh the honorary degree of LL.D. He died in Athens. His ''
History of Greece The history of Greece encompasses the history of the territory of the modern nation-state of Greece as well as that of the Greek people and the areas they inhabited and ruled historically. The scope of Greek habitation and rule has varied thro ...
'', produced in sections between 1843 and 1861, did not at first receive the recognition which its merits deserved, but it has since been given by scholars in all countries, and specially in
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, a place among works of permanent value, alike for its literary style and the depth and insight of its historical views. It was re-issued in 1877 as '' A History of Greece from the Roman Conquest to the Present Time'' (146 BC to 1864). Confusion arising from a work of
Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852), was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist who was widely regarded as Ireland's "National poet, national bard" during the late Georgian era. The acclaim rested primarily on the popularity of his ''I ...
on the life of Byron which refers to his uncle by full name but Finlay only by surname, lead to some of his exploits being ascribed to a putative brother Kirkman Finlay.


Works

* ''History of the Byzantine Empire from 716 to 1057'' * ''History of the Byzantine and Greek Empires from 1057 to 1453'' * ''A History of Greece (From Its Conquest by the Romans to the Present Time, B.C. 146 to A.D. 1864)'' ** ''Greece under the Romans'' ** ''From Its Conquest by the Crusaders to Its Conquest by the Turks (1204–1461)'' ** Vol V: ''Greece under Othoman and Venetian domination'' ** '' History of The Greek Revolution''


Notes


References

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Finlay, George 1799 births 1875 deaths 19th-century Scottish historians People from Faversham British philhellenes in the Greek War of Independence Historians of antiquity Alumni of the University of Glasgow Alumni of the University of Edinburgh University of Göttingen alumni British expatriates in Greece The Times people Scholars of Byzantine history