Theodoros Negris (,

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 ...

, c. 1790 –

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 ...

, 22 November 1824) was a Greek politician.

Biography

He was born in

. He was from an old noble family that descended from

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. His father was George Negris. His cousins

Alexander Negris Alexander Negris (c. 1805 - 1860/80; ) was a military colonel, author, philologist, and professor. He participated in the Greek War of Independence with other members of his family; indeed, he was a member of the phanariots family's Negris and Yp ...

and Konstantinos Negris also participated in the Greek war of Independence. Both became prominent university professors. The family's wealth allowed Theodoros to receive a good education. In 1818 he was initiated into

Filiki Eteria Filiki Eteria () or Society of Friends () was a secret political and revolutionary organization founded in 1814 in Odesa, Odessa, whose purpose was to overthrow Ottoman Empire, Ottoman rule in Ottoman Greece, Greece and establish an Independenc ...

(Society of Friends) and became one of its most active members. He served as secretary to the

hospodar ''Gospodar'' or ''hospodar'', also ''gospodin'' as a diminutive, is a term of Slavic origin, meaning "lord" or " master". The compound (, , , sh-Latn-Cyrl, gospodar, господар, ) is a derivative of ''gospod'' / ''gospodin'', , or when spe ...

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

Scarlat Callimachi, and in early 1821 he was appointed Ottoman envoy 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 ...

. On his way, however, he received news on the outbreak of 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 ...

, and went secretly to Greece. Following the

massacre A massacre is an event of killing people who are not engaged in hostilities or are defenseless. It is generally used to describe a targeted killing of civilians Glossary of French words and expressions in English#En masse, en masse by an armed ...

against the Greek population in Constantinople, his father was beheaded by the Ottomans. Negris arrived on the island of

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 ...

in Ottoman dress, and was almost lynched by the crowd, but was saved by Neofytos Vamvas. His cousin Konstantinos Negris became his student. Theodoros joined fellow

Phanariotes Phanariots, Phanariotes, or Fanariots (, , ) were members of prominent Greek families in Phanar (Φανάρι, modern ''Fener''), the chief Greek quarter of Constantinople where the Ecumenical Patriarchate is located, who traditionally occupied ...

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 ...

and Kostakis Karatzas. On 19 November 1821, he participated in the establishment of the

Areopagus of Eastern Continental Greece The Areopagus of Eastern Continental Greece () was a provisional regime that existed in eastern Central Greece during the Greek War of Independence. Background During the first stages of the Greek Revolution against the Ottoman Empire, there e ...

, becoming its first president. He took part in 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 the Second National Assembly at Astros, after which he switched camps and allied with

Theodoros Kolokotronis Theodoros Kolokotronis (; 3 April 1770 – ) was a Greek general and the pre-eminent leader of the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829) against the Ottoman Empire. The son of a klepht leader who fought the Ottomans during the Orlov revolt ...

and

Odysseas Androutsos Odysseas Androutsos (; 1788–1790 – 1825; born Odysseas Verousis ) was a Greek armatolos in eastern continental Greece and a prominent figure of the Greek War of Independence. Born in Ithaca (island), Ithaca, the son of an Arvanites, Arva ...

against Mavrokordatos. As the power of the Areopagus declined in favour of the central provisional government, so Negris too began to be sidelined and lose his influence. He died on 22 November 1824 of

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Negris, Theodoros 1790s births 1824 deaths People from the Ottoman Empire Greek politicians Greek people of the Greek War of Independence Constantinopolitan Greeks Greek people of Italian descent Members of the Filiki Eteria Deaths from typhus Politicians from Istanbul