Alexandros Mavrokordatos

His Excellency Alexandros Mavrokordatos Αλέξανδρος Μαυροκορδάτος
Alexander Mavrocordatos, Athens, Benaki Museum.
1st President of the Provisional Administration of Greece
In office January 13, 1822 – May 10, 1823
Succeeded by	Petros Mavromichalis
Prime Minister of Greece
In office October 24, 1833 – June 12, 1834
Monarch	Otto
Preceded by	Spyridon Trikoupis
Succeeded by	Ioannis Kolettis
In office July 6, 1841 – August 22, 1841
Monarch	Otto
Preceded by	Otto
Succeeded by	Otto
In office April 11, 1844 – August 18, 1844
Monarch	Otto
Preceded by	Konstantinos Kanaris
Succeeded by	Ioannis Kolettis
In office July 29, 1854 – October 11, 1855
Monarch	Otto
Preceded by	Konstantinos Kanaris
Succeeded by	Dimitrios Voulgaris
Personal details
Born	(1791-02-11)February 11, 1791[1] Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Died	August 18, 1865(1865-08-18) (aged 74) Aegina, Greece
Political party	English Party
Spouse(s)	Katerina Bals
Religion	Greek Orthodox

Alexandros Mavrokordatos (Greek: Αλέξανδρος Μαυροκορδάτος; February 11, 1791 – August 18, 1865) was a Greek statesman and member of the Mavrocordatos family of Phanariotes.

Biography

In 1812, Mavrokordatos went to the court of his uncle Jean Georges Caradja, Hospodar of Wallachia, with whom he passed into exile in the Austrian Empire (1818), where he studied at the University of Padua. He was a member of the Filiki Eteria and was among the Phanariot Greeks who hastened to Morea on the outbreak of the War of Independence in 1821. He was active in endeavouring to establish a regular government, and in January, 1822 he was elected by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus as the "President of the Executive".

Alexandros Mavrokordatos by Peter von Hess.

He commanded the advance of the Greeks into western Central Greece the same year, and suffered a serious defeat at Peta on July 16, but retrieved this disaster somewhat by his successful resistance to the First Siege of Missolonghi (Nov. 1822 to Jan. 1823). His English sympathies brought him, in the subsequent strife of factions, into opposition to the "Russian" party headed by Demetrius Ypsilanti and Kolokotronis; and though he held the portfolio of foreign affairs for a short while under the presidency of Petrobey (Petros Mavromichalis), he was compelled to withdraw from affairs until February 1825, when he again became a Secretary of State. The landing of Ibrahim Pasha followed, and Mavrocordatos again joined the army, barely escaping capture in the disaster at Sphacteria, on May 9, 1825, on board the ship Ares.

After the fall of Missolonghi (April 22, 1826) he went into retirement, until President John Capodistria made him a member of the committee for the administration of war material, a position he resigned in 1828. After Kapodistria's murder (October 9, 1831) and the resignation of his brother and successor, Augustinos Kapodistrias (April 13, 1832), Mavrocordatos became Minister of Finance. He was Vice-President of the National Assembly at Argos (July, 1832), and was appointed by King Otto as his Minister of Finance, and in 1833 Premier.

From 1834 onwards, he was Greek envoy at Munich, Berlin, London and, after a short interlude again as Premier of Greece in 1841, he was appointed envoy to Constantinople. In 1843, after the September 3rd uprising, he returned to Athens as Minister without portfolio in the Metaxas cabinet, and from April to August 1844 was head of the government formed after the fall of the Russian party. Going into opposition, he distinguished himself by his violent attacks on the Kolettis government. In 1854-1855 he was again head of the government for a few months. He died in Aegina on 18 August 1865.

See also

References

• E. Legrand, Généalogie des Mavrocordato (Paris, 1886).

1. ↑ Note: Greece officially adopted the Gregorian calendar on 16 February 1923 (which became 1 March). All dates prior to that, unless specifically denoted, are Old Style.