Joannes, Ioannes or John Gennadius (, 1844–1932) was a Greek

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

, and speaker, best known for his donation of his collection of Greek books and art to the

Gennadius Library The Gennadius Library (), also known as the Gennadeion, is one of the most important libraries in Greece, with over 110,000 volumes on Greek history, literature and art from Antiquity until modern times. The library is located at Souidias Street ...

Early and personal life

Gennadius was born in

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 ...

on , the son of

Georgios Gennadios Georgios Gennadios (; 1784–1854) was a Greek man of letters who was instrumental in the founding of some of the first educational establishments of modern Greece, considered among the most important personalities of the Modern Greek Enlighten ...

, a man of letters, and Artemis Gennadios, a descendant of Ioannis Benizelos. His father died when he was 10. He was educated at the English-language Malta Protestant College and at the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...

. In November 1862, at age 18, he left the university and traveled to London. In Britain, he worked at

Ralli Brothers The five Ralli brothers, Zannis a.k.a. John (1785–1859), Augustus (1792–1878), Pandia a.k.a. Zeus (1793–1865), Toumazis (1799–1858), and Eustratios (1800–84), founded Ralli Brothers, perhaps the most successful expatriate Greek merchant ...

, returning briefly to Athens to work as a journalist.Francis R. Walton, "Joannes Gennadius: 1844–1932", ''The Book Collector'', Autumn 1964, p. 305–326 Gennadius married in London on 27 December 1902 Florence Laing Kennedy (1853–1952), the widow of the artist Edward Sherard Kennedy and daughter of Samuel Laing. There were two ceremonies, first at the Greek Church of St Sofia, then at the Anglican church of St Peter, Cranley Gardens. They set up household at 14 De Vere Gardens,

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

. They moved to

East Molesey East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

, Surrey, in 1924. Gennadius died in London in 1932 and his wife died in 1952.

Diplomatic career

His first public role was during the

Dilessi murders The Dilessi murders were committed between 4 and 7 April 1870, when one Italians, Italian and three English people, English aristocracy, aristocrats were murdered at Dilesi (), a coastal town in eastern Boeotia, by Greeks, Greek brigands while tou ...

in 1870. Four travelers in

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 ...

were murdered by brigands, prompting an "angry outburst of anti-Greek feeling in London". Though his employers, the Ralli Brothers, told him to remain silent, he researched the incident and wrote a 192-page pamphlet about it which he then delivered to one hundred members of

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. He was fired from his job, but became a hero to Greeks in Greece and abroad. In 1873, the Greek government appointed him Second Secretary in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. In 1874, he was transferred to London, and in May 1875, he was named

Chargé d'affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

. He then had a series of increasingly senior postings in London,

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, and the United States, but was recalled to Athens in 1892. It was only in 1910 that he was reappointed as Minister in London and

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. He retired in 1918, but served as the Greek representative to the

Washington Naval Conference The Washington Naval Conference (or the Washington Conference on the Limitation of Armament) was a disarmament conference called by the United States and held in Washington, D.C., from November 12, 1921, to February 6, 1922. It was conducted out ...

from 1921 to 1922.

Book collecting and public life

Gennadius had started collecting books young. In 1867, for the Exposition Universelle in Paris, he prepared an exhibit and ''catalogue raisonné'' for all of the newspapers and periodicals published in Greece in 1866. In 1872, his personal library was not especially notable. The one "treasure" of his collection at that time was a first edition of the ''

Erotokritos ''Erotokritos'' () is a romance composed by Vikentios Kornaros in early 17th century Crete. It consists of 10,012 fifteen-syllable rhymed verses, the last twelve of which refer to the poet himself. It is written in the Cretan dialect of the G ...

''. During the period 1874 to 1880, his collecting became more systematic, including not just books, but also drawings and prints on Turkish and Greek life and costume. In the 1880s, he "formed the 'grand design' that was to dominate his collecting for the rest of his life: to form a library that represented the creative genius of Greece at all periods, the influence of her arts and sciences upon the western world, and the impression created by her natural beauty upon the traveller", with the plan of donating it to the

National Library of Greece The National Library of Greece () is the main public library of Greece, located in Athens. Founded by Ioannis Kapodistrias in 1832, its mission is to locate, collect, organize, describe and preserve the perpetual evidence of Greek culture and its ...

. In the meantime, he organized various activities in support of Greece. He arranged the donation of 6,000 books to the Parliamentary Library. He helped form the Greek Committee, with

Lord Rosebery Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian (7 May 1847 – 21 May 1929) was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from March 1894 to June 1895. Between the death of h ...

as president. He helped found the

Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic studies, Hellenic Studies, known as the Hellenic Society, was founded in 1879 to advance the study of Greek language, Greek literature, literature, Greek history, history, Greek art, art and Classical ar ...

. In 1922, he offered his collection of 24,000 volumes to the

American School of Classical Studies The American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA; ) is one of 19 foreign archaeological institutes in Athens, Greece. It is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC). CAORC is a private not-for-profit federati ...

in Athens. A site for a library building was donated by the Greek government and funding for the building by the

Carnegie Corporation The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Since its founding, the Carnegie Corporation has endowed or othe ...

. Gennadius and his wife formally dedicated it on April 23, 1926.

Honors

* Gold Cross of the

Order of the Redeemer The Order of the Redeemer (), also known as the Order of the Saviour, is an order of merit of Greece. The Order of the Redeemer is the oldest and highest decoration awarded by the modern Greek state. Establishment The establishment of the Orde ...

, Greece, 1879 * Honorary

Doctor of Civil Law Doctor of Civil Law (DCL; ) is a degree offered by some universities, such as the University of Oxford, instead of the more common Doctor of Laws (LLD) degrees. At Oxford, the degree is a higher doctorate usually awarded on the basis of except ...

, Oxford University, 1882 * Grand Cross of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

, 1918

External links

* American School of Classical Studies
Joannes Gennadius Papers

Modern Greek Visual Prosopography

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gennadios, Joannes Book and manuscript collectors 1844 births 1932 deaths Writers from Athens Greek male non-fiction writers 19th-century Greek male writers 20th-century Greek male writers 19th-century Greek non-fiction writers 20th-century Greek non-fiction writers Ambassadors of Greece to the United Kingdom Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order