Ioannis Varvakis

Ioannis Varvakis                                                           ΙΩΑΝΝΗΣ ΒΑΡΒΑΚΗΣ

Born 1745                                                                               Died 1825

 Grave: Plaza, Number 2

Ioannis Varvakis is proof that events can destroy you and then raise you to the heights - providing  you are astute, lucky, and know the right people. He was one of the earliest merchant benefactors of the emerging Greek nation. Although he became wealthy and titled in Russia, he never forgot his homeland.  He joined the Filiki Etairia sometime after 1815 and aided the revolution financially wherever he could. When he died, he left a fortune to a state he did not live to see established. 

His Life

Ioannis was born in Psara near Chios. As a young man he became captain of his own ship and, like most sea captains of the time, did a little privateering along with legitimate trading.  Varvakis  (hawk) had been his childhood nickname because of his piercing eyes,  and he would later choose it as his surname. He might have remained a sea captain were it not for the Russian -Turkish war of 1768.

 The Russian-Turkish War and its Aftermath

The war of these two Titans would reverberate for years in Greek history. At first, Russia was only too willing to promote Greek resistance against the Ottomans in the Aegean and elsewhere. Varvakis threw in his lot with the Russians using his own funds to equip his ship with cannons. But because it was not a true war ship, its ultimate fate was to be used as a fire ship, - effective but, alas, combustible by definition, and good for one time use only. (1)

 

Worse was to come. When Russia made peace with the Turks in 1774, it gained the north coast of the Black sea but the peace agreement left Greek freedom fighters in Ottoman territories vulnerable to vicious reprisals. Varvakis found himself destitute and on the run, but not without friends in high places. The story goes that the Russian ambassador to Constantinople helped him to escape into Russia and gave him appropriate letters of introduction to the Russian court. He arrived in Saint Petersburg at the beginning of 1776 where he met Potemkin, the famous military leader and current lover of Catherine the Great.  Potemkin arranged an audience.  

Catherine was not only prepared to recognize Varvaki’s efforts during the war, she also gave him 1000 golden roubles in compensation for his losses, permission to settle in Russia, and duty free fishing rights in the Caspian Sea for a ten year period.

  

There was method in this generosity. Catherine and Potemkin were keen to take advantage of the many Greek refugees fleeing reprisals to populate and economically jumpstart their newly acquired territory. They were eager to establish trade in Asia, namely with Persia. The Greeks were Orthodox, had shipping and trading experience, and already had a vast network of family and business connections at their disposal – perfect citizens for her new economic zone. There was also a quid pro quo. Apparently Varvakis often acted as a diplomatic and financial agent for Russia when required and put his substantial expertise in shipping and navigation at Russia’s disposal on many occasions.

the famous piercing stare

Varvakis moved to Astrakan, a city on the Volga River where it enters the Caspian Sea and quickly understood that caviar was his route to success. By developing a method by which fresh caviar could be preserved and therefore transported, he became extremely wealthy. By 1778 he employed more than 3,000 workers and business was booming. In 1789, he was made a permanent citizen of Russia. He took a Russian name, financed various Russian endeavors, and was even made a ‘hereditary’ nobleman by the then Tsar.

The Varvakis Coat of Arms

In 1812 he moved to Taganrog, a city in the Sea of Azov that was inhabited by many Greeks. There he built a grand Orthodox monastery as well as an imposing mansion for himself:

The house in Taganrog that caviar built

He could have stayed there and basked in his good fortune, but he did not. Varvakis was a Greek patriot.

 He joined the Filiki Etairia sometime after 1815 and assisted the fighters economically when the revolution broke out. When Psara it was devastated by an Ottoman naval attack in 1824 and its population either killed or scattered, he traveled to Greece in person to aid the refugees but died in 1825 in Zakynthos at the age of 80, well before the success of the revolution was assured.

 He left a million roubles in his will (and safe in Russian banks) for the founding of Greece’s first high school; it would be named the Varvakeio  school when it finally opened in 1860,  and it is still thriving in Athens today. Some say he also financed the Athens’ covered market, the Varvakeio, completed in the late 1800s; others that it was simply named after him in honour of his service to the nation.

Varvakis was buried in Zakynthos but his body was brought to Athens to the austere grave directly beside the Ossuary in the Plaza of Athens’ First Cemetery - to remind Greeks of their generous benefactor.

The epitaph reads: He devoted his life and fortune for the freedom and the spiritual rebirth of Greece. At this point, you might expect a carved phoenix, but instead, something resembling a small lit Aladdin’s lamp is carved beneath the inscription. This lamp is an ubiquitous symbol in The First Cemetery and, incidentally, also a Masonic symbol of initiation.

The Grave is in the Plaza, Number 2

Footnote

(1) Fire Ships would be used to good account by the Greeks during the War of Independence. It was one way to even up the odds of a smaller boat against a war ship.

Try also http://kassiani.fhw.gr/blacksea/Forms/fLemmaBodyExtended.aspx?lemmaID=11549

For an excellent article on Ioannis  Varvakis.

God Loves Caviar is an award winning film about his life.