Leon Melas (, 1812–1879) was a

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 ...

politician, representative to the National Assemblies of 1843 and 1862 and author. His greatest work was the novel ''Gerostathis''. He excelled as Minister of Justice, Ecclesiastical Affairs and Education, as a university professor, magistrate and lawyer.

Biographical information

Leon Melas was born in 1812 in

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and was the eldest son of the merchant Georgios Melas. His childhood coincided with the preparation of the Greek Revolution of 1821 by the Filiki EtaireiaPavlos Drandakis, ''Μεγάλη Ελληνική Εγκυκλοπαίδεια'', vol. 16, p. 861. and the environment in which he grew up comprised the Etaireia's most eminent members. After the beginning of the Revolution his family fled to

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

in the Russian Empire. There Leon received his general education. Then, after studying at the

Ionian Academy The Ionian Academy () was the first Greek academic institution established in modern times. It was located in Corfu. It was established by the French during their administration of the island as the ''département'' of Corcyre, and became a univer ...

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(then in the

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) and the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa (, UniPi) is a public university, public research university in Pisa, Italy. Founded in 1343, it is one of the oldest universities in Europe. Together with Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and Sant'Anna School of Advanced S ...

(then in the

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), he was acclaimed a doctor of law. He came to newly independent

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in 1833 where he practiced law first in

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and later in

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 ...

. In 1837 he became professor of law at the newly created

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 ...

. He participated as a representative to the National Assembly of 1843 and the National Assembly in 1862. He served as

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

several times, in the

Alexandros Mavrokordatos Alexandros Mavrokordatos (; 11 February 179118 August 1865) was a Greek statesman, diplomat, politician and member of the Mavrocordatos family of Phanariotes. Biography In 1812, Mavrokordatos went to the court of his uncle John George Caradja ...

cabinet (1841), in the revolutionary cabinet of

Andreas Metaxas Andreas Metaxas (; 179019 September 1860) was a Greek politician, fighter of the Greek War of Independence and diplomat from Cephalonia. He was prime minister of Greece from 3 September 1843 to 16 February 1844. Some military leaders of the revo ...

(1843) and in the cabinet of

Konstantinos Kanaris Konstantinos Kanaris (, ; c. 1790Cretan Revolution against the Ottomans, he took over the presidency of the “Central Commission of Cretans in Athens” and offered important services.Εκδοτική Αθηνών, ''Παγκόσμιο Βιογραφικό Λεξικό'', vol. 6, p. 117. Furthermore, he was a distinguished scholar and educator. His most important work is considered the ''Gerostathis or memories of my childhood'' (1858), which was used for decades as a textbook. He also wrote the works: ''Christopher'', ''The Handbook of Greek children'', ''The Little Plutarch'' etc. Leon Melas was also chairman of the Council of the Educational Society and was the one who introduced the lesson of pedagogy in the Arsakeion college. He died on 8 October 1879 in Athens . He left his legacy to many public welfare institutions and the rights to his books to the Association for the Dissemination of Greek Letters. His wife was Rallou Nikolaou ThomaLeon Melas, ''Δελτίον της Εστίας'', vol. 3, no. 146 (1879) and his nephews were

Demetrios Vikelas Demetrios Vikelas (; ; 15 February 1835 – 20 July 1908) was a Greek businessman and writer; he was the co-founder and first president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), from 1894 to 1896. After a childhood spent in Greece and Is ...

and Pavlos Melas.

References

Bibliography

*Vassilios Dimaratos, Γενικά τινα περί της οικογενείας Μελά: Ανατύπωσις εκ του Γ΄ βιογραφικού παραρτήματος των ‘Ηπειρωτικών Χρονικών’, Athens, τύποις ‘Φοίνικος’, 1931. *Pavlos Drandakis, Μεγάλη Ελληνική Εγκυκλοπαίδεια, vol. 16, p. 861-2. *Leon I. Melas, Ηπειρωτικές Μελέτες/Μια οικογένεια-Μια ιστορία, Athens, 1967. *Εκδοτική Αθηνών, Παγκόσμιο Βιογραφικό Λεξικό, vol. 6, p. 117. {{DEFAULTSORT:Melas, Leon 1812 births 1879 deaths Immigrants to Greece Greek writers Constantinopolitan Greeks 19th-century Greek lawyers Justice ministers of Greece Greek MPs 1844–1847 Greek MPs 1862–1864 Politicians from Istanbul Writers from Istanbul Lawyers from Istanbul Academics from Istanbul