Konstantinos Dimidis (

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 ...

: Κωνσταντίνος Δημίδης; 18th century – 1869) was a fighter of the Greek Revolution of 1821,

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James Printer (1640 ...

and gunsmith from

Grevena Grevena (, ''Grevená'' ; ) is a town and Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in Western Macedonia, northern Greece, capital of the Grevena (regional unit), Grevena regional unit. The town's current population is 12,515 citizen ...

Biography

Early life

Konstantinos Dimidis was born in the late 18th century in

. At a young age, He moved to Ayvali searching for employment. There he learned gunsmithing. In 1818 he moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

together with Konstantinos Tompras and they apprenticed typography to

Firmin Didot Firmin Didot (; 14 April 176424 April 1836) was a French printer, engraver, and type founder. Early life Firmin Didot was born in Paris into a family of printers founded by François Didot, the father of 11 children. Firmin was one of his gra ...

. A year later, returning to Ayvali, together with Tompras they opened a print shop in 1819.

In Psara

At the start of the

Greek Revolution 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 ...

, in June 1821, Ayvali was attacked by the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

. Persecuted, he went to

Psara Psara (, , ; known in ancient times as /, /) is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. Together with the small island of Antipsara (population 4) it forms the municipality of Psara. It is part of the Chios regional unit, which is part of the North A ...

, where he became actively involved in the Revolution. There he founded the first improvised print shop of the revolutionary

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

. In 1824 Konstantinos Dimidis was printing proclamations and naval diplomas. He even aspired to publish a newspaper, and, for this reason, the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

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 ...

Leicester Stanhope sent to Psara a

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

equipment. The

Destruction of Psara The Destruction of Psara (in , ) was the killing of thousands of Greeks on the island of Psara by Ottoman troops during the Greek War of Independence in 1824. Background By the beginning of the 19th century, Psara had the third largest tr ...

in June 1824 foiled his plans.

In Hydra and Nafplio

During the period 1827 – 1828 he worked in the print shop of the Italian Giuseppe Chiappe in Hydra, where the newspaper The Friend of the Law was published. Later, Konstantinos Dimidis went to

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 ...

. On his own initiative, collaborating again with Konstantinos Tompras, he founded the first private print shop there. In 1828 he printed two books with the titles "Arithmetic", by Dionysios Pyrrhos, and "Summary of the Gospel", by Neofytos Nikitopoulos. He then cooperated with Emmanouil Antoniadis, with whom he printed the newspapers "Eos" (1830 – 1831) and "Athens" (1832 – 1833). With Antoniadis, Dimidis manufactured and cast type on site.

In Ermoupoli and Athens

After the departure of Emmanouil Antoniadis to

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 ...

, Konstantinos Dimids decided to move to

Syros Syros ( ), also known as Siros or Syra, is a Greece, Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is south-east of Athens. The area of the island is and at the 2021 census it had 21,124 inhabitants. The largest towns are Ermoupoli, Ano S ...

. In

Ermoupoli Ermoupoli (), also known by the formal older name Ermoupolis or Hermoupolis ( < "Town of Hermes"), is a town and former Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality on the island of Syros, in the Cyclades, Greece. Since the 2011 loca ...

, he cooperated with Georgios Melistagis and in 1833 they published a newsletter. Until 1836 they had published 10 titles. In 1836 Konstantinos Dimidis left

. In 1843 he took over the newly founded Department of Type Creation of the Royal Type Shop, where he worked until his death, in 1869.

His contribution

His contribution to the evolution of Greek typography and the formation of Greek types was immense, as he was the only

in the years of 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 ...

, but even up to the 1850, who could produce high quality types.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dimidis, Konstantinos Greek War of Independence Greek people of the Greek War of Independence People from Grevena