Ioannis Orlandos () was a Greek politician and revolutionary who participated in 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 ...

Early life and Greek Revolution

His father Constantinos-Anagnostis Orlandos came from

Spetses Spetses (, "Pityussa") is an island in Attica, Greece. It is counted among the Saronic Islands group. Until 1948, it was part of the old prefecture of Argolis and Corinthia Prefecture, which is now split into Argolis and Corinthia. In ancient ...

to Hydra in 1781. He was married with the daughter of Theodoros Ghikas, a notable citizen of Hydra. Orlandos was an

Arvanite Arvanites (; Arvanitika: , or , ; Greek: , ) are a population group in Greece of Albanian origin. They are bilingual, traditionally speaking Arvanitika, an Albanian language variety, along with Greek. Their ancestors were first recorded ...

and spoke fluently the local

Arvanitika Arvanitika (; Arvanitika: , ; Greek: , ), also known as Arvanitic, is the variety of Albanian traditionally spoken by the Arvanites, a population group in Greece. Arvanitika was brought to Southern Greece during the late Middle Ages by Alb ...

of Hydra. His correspondence with Georgios Kountouriotis is one of the few texts which have preserved the features of Hydriot Arvanitika. In Hydra, where he had been living since 1811, he married the sister of Georgios and Lazaros Kountouriotis, Hydriote landlords and shipowners. He was also a significant shipowner before the

revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

. At the start of it, he gave all his ships to the revolutionary government. He became a delegate from Hydra at the

First National Assembly at Epidaurus The First National Assembly of Epidaurus (, 1821–1822) was the first meeting of the Greek National Assembly, a national representative political gathering of the Greek revolutionaries. History The assembly opened in December 1821 at Piada (to ...

and a member of the twelve-member committee that modified the text of the first constitution. He had the position of the vice-president of the legislative corps from 13 January until April 1823. On 26 April and after Lazaros Kountouriotis denied the position, he was elected president of the legislative corps. A month later, on 22 May 1823, disappointed by the way politics had taken and anticipating the upcoming civil war, he resigned from his post. His political opponents had already accused him of factionalism due to the assistance he provided to Kountouriotis. In June 1823 he became a member of a committee jointly with Andreas Louriotis and Andreas Zaimis to negotiate about a loan in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Before departing for the British capital, he wrote a letter about the need for unity and avoidance of civil wars. Also, in November 1823 he visited

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 ...

Kephalonia 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 reg ...

. In January 1824, he and Louriotis, a man of Mavrokordatos, was the Greek ambassadors who made the negotiations and finally borrowed the first British loan during the revolution, £800,000. In London, they were formally welcomed and they even met the

Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs may refer to: * Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Spain) *Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (UK) The secretary of state for foreign, commonwealth and development affairs, also known as the fore ...

George Canning George Canning (; 11 April 17708 August 1827) was a British Tory statesman. He held various senior cabinet positions under numerous prime ministers, including two important terms as foreign secretary, finally becoming Prime Minister of the U ...

. He was a member of the delegation who, in 1825, summed the second loan, £2,000,000. He returned to Greece on 1825 and continued representing Hydra at the National Assemblies.

Life in independent Greece

Orlandos was a member of the English Party, considering the UK as the most effective country as of helping the revolution. He selected them due to the Kingdom's liberal political heritage and also its superiority in the sea. Then, he joined the anti-Kapodistrian faction stating that he preferred Greece a British protectorate instead of tolerating Ioannis Kapodistrias' authoritarian administration. So he took part in the anti-Kapodistrian demonstrations of Hydra, during the summer of 1831. After all these and in searching for scapegoats to apologize for the loans, he and Louriotis were accused of wrongful administration. They were firstly acquitted but, in 1835 the court characterised them responsible for the loss of £28,769. In 1839 they published their huge apology in two volumes which they later renounced. In 1837 he was one of the founding members of the Archaeological Society of Athens.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Orlandos, Ioannis 1770s births 1852 deaths Speakers of the Hellenic Parliament Greek people of the Greek War of Independence People from Hydra (island) People from Spetses English Party politicians Arvanites