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Alexander Mavrokordatos the Exaporite

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For other people with the same name, see Alexander Mavrocordatos.
Illustration from 1854

Alexander Mavrocordatos (Greek: Ἀλέξανδρος Μαυροκορδάτος; 1641 – 23 December 1709), surnamed the Exaporite (ὁ ἐξ Ἀπορρήτων, lit. '[Keeper] of the Secrets'),[1] was a member of the Greek Mavrocordatos family, a doctor of philosophy and medicine, and Dragoman of the Porte to Sultan Mehmed IV in 1673 — notably employed in negotiations with the Habsburg monarchy during the Great Turkish War.

Life

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Origin and early life

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Alexander Mavrokordatos was born in 1641[2] in Constantinople as the son of the silk merchant Nikolaos Mavrokordatos from Chios and Loxandra Scarlatou.[2][3] Loxandra's father was a merchant who had grown wealthy from contracts to supply the Ottoman army, and had considerable influence at the Ottoman court.[2][4] She had been betrothed to Matei Basarab, Prince of Wallachia, but the latter sent her back to Constantinople when Loxandra was disfigured by smallpox just days before the wedding.[5] There she fell in love with Nikolaos and married him. From the marriage were born two sons, Alexander and Ioannis.[6] Alexander early own showed a keen intellect, encouraged by his well-educated mother.[7] The scholar Ioannis Karyofyllis (scholar) [el; Ioannis Karyofyllis] was his teacher.[2]

Coat of arms of "Alexander Maurocordatus Constantinopolitanus" from the arms roll of students of the University of Padua

in 1657, Mavrokordatos was sent for studies to Italy, first at the Pontifical Greek College of Saint Athanasius in Rome, as well as studies philosophy and medicine in the University of Bologna and the University of Padua. His doctoral thesis about the circulation of blood (De instrumento respirationis et circulatione sanguinis), which he published at Florence in 1664, was well received, and was later republished five times.[2][3][8] On his return to Constantinople, he taught medicine and philosophy at the Patriarchal Academy, whose director he became,[3] and received the office of megas rhetor of the Patriarchate.[2] At the same time, he complemented his income by working as a physician, while learning the languages necessary for a career in the Ottoman government: apart from Greek, Latin, and Italian, he learned Turkish, Persian, Arabic, French, and Slavonic.[9] At about the same time, he also married his wife, Soultana, daughter of Ioannis Chrysoskolaios.[10]

Career as Dragoman of the Porte

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Mavrokordatos' ability as a physician soon brought him to the attention of the Grand Vizier, Köprülüzade Fazıl Ahmed Pasha, who made him his personal physician. Like his predecessor and mentor, Panagiotis Nikousios, this post served as a stepping-stone to higher office;[11] after entering government service as a dragoman in 1671,[2] he succeeded Nikousios as Grand Dragoman in 1673.[3][12] He also succeeded Nikousios in the usufruct of the tax income of the island of Mykonos.[13]

After the Ottoman defeat at the Siege of Vienna in 1683, Mavrokordatos was imprisoned as having contributed to the defeat. He escaped execution through the intervention of Köprülüzade Fazıl Ahmed's brother, Mustafa Pasha, but was obliged to pay an enormous ransom. When he could not gather the requisite sum, his property was confiscated, and his wife and mother were imprisoned; Loxandra was to die in prison after six months. Finally, after spending 12 months in prison, Alexander managed to pay off the ransom and was released.[14] Almost immediately he was recalled to advise the Grand Vizier Sarı Süleyman Pasha on official affairs; his interim successor, a Venetian renegade, was dismissed as incompetent.[15] Mavrokordatos' most notable achievement was as Ottoman representative at the Treaty of Karlowitz that ended the Great Turkish War, for which he received the title of mahrem-i esrar ('keeper of secrets') of the Sultan, and was named Imperial Count (which was kept secret from the Ottomans) and given rich gifts by the Holy Roman Emperor.[16][17]

His authority, with that of Amcazade Köprülü Hüseyin Pasha and Rami Mehmed Pasha, was supreme at the court of Mustafa II, and he did much to ameliorate the conditions of the Christians in the Ottoman Empire.[18] During the Edirne Incident riots in 1703 he was accused of having betrayed Ottoman interests during the negotiations at Karlowitz, and rioters in the capital demanded his death. Mavrokordatos managed to escape into hiding at Sozopolis, but his property was confiscated, but he was able to return to Constantinople and his office after the accession of Ahmed III.[19]

Death and succession

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Mavrocordatos' eldest son, Nicholas Mavrocordatos, began deputizing him as Dragoman (variously given as from 1697[18], or 1698[20][21]) as Alexander suffered from increasingly debilitating gout.{sfn|Stamatiadis|1865|p=94}} Alexander Mavrocordatos died in 1709,[18] and was succeeded by Nicholas, who did not remain long in office as he was appointed hospodar of Moldavia in the same year.[21][22] Nicholas later held the office of hospodar of Moldavia again (1711–1715), followed by two terms as hospodar of Wallachia (1715–1716, 1719–1730).[12] He was in turn succeeded as Dragoman by Alexander's younger son John, who remained in office until 1717, when he was appointed hospodar of Wallachia (until 1719).[12][23]

Works

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Apart from his thesis, Mavrokordatos also wrote a history of the Jews, published in Bucharest in 1716; a grammar, published in Venice in 1745; a three-volume Roman history, possibly translated from Livy; a political essay, the Phrontismata, published in Vienna in 1805; a book on rhetoric; and various unpublished treatises on philosophy.[24] He also translated into Turkish not only his thesis, but also geographical works: Gerardus Mercator's Atlas and Willem Blaeu's Theatre du Monde.[3] In 1677, the French orientalist Antoine Galland recorded hearing a reading of a treatise by Mavrokordatos, in Italian, on the strengths and weaknesses of the Ottoman Empire.[25] In 1689, Mavrokordatos became a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.[26]

Critical editions

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  • Tzelepis, Dimitris I. (2023). Ῥωμαϊκὰ τοῦ Ἀλέξανδρου Μαυροκορδάτου τοῦ «ἐξ Ἀπορρήτων» (in Greek). Athens: Irodotos. (4 vols.)
  • Tzelepis, Dimitris I. (2024). ΠΕΡΙ ΣΥΝΤΑΞΕΩΣ ΤΩΝ ΤΟΥ ΛΟΓΟΥ ΜΕΡΩΝ τοῦ Ἀλέξανδρου Μαυροκορδάτου τοῦ «ἐξ Ἀπορρήτων» (1641-1709) (in Greek). Komotini: Modern Greek and Comparative Philology Laboratory, Democritus University of Thrace. ISBN 978-618-85138-6-0.

Correspondence

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Family

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From his marriage with Soultana, Mavrokordatos had five children:[27]

  • Skarlatos, who died at an early age shortly after his marriage
  • Nicholas
  • John
  • Loxandra, married Matthew Ghika [Wikidata]
  • Helen

References

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  1. ^ Makrides 2019, p. 1295.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Vakalopoulos 1973, p. 240.
  3. ^ a b c d e Kamperidis 2019, p. 1014.
  4. ^ Stamatiadis 1865, pp. 61–62.
  5. ^ Stamatiadis 1865, pp. 62–65.
  6. ^ Stamatiadis 1865, p. 65.
  7. ^ Stamatiadis 1865, pp. 65–66.
  8. ^ Stamatiadis 1865, pp. 66–67, 90.
  9. ^ Stamatiadis 1865, pp. 68–69.
  10. ^ Stamatiadis 1865, p. 69.
  11. ^ Philliou 2011, pp. 8–10.
  12. ^ a b c Philliou 2011, p. 183.
  13. ^ Vakalopoulos 1973, pp. 240–241.
  14. ^ Stamatiadis 1865, pp. 70–71.
  15. ^ Stamatiadis 1865, pp. 71–72.
  16. ^ Philliou 2011, p. 25.
  17. ^ Stamatiadis 1865, pp. 73–77.
  18. ^ a b c  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Mavrocordato". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 917.
  19. ^ Stamatiadis 1865, pp. 77–78.
  20. ^ Stamatiadis 1865, pp. 94–95.
  21. ^ a b Kamperidis 2019, p. 1015.
  22. ^ Stamatiadis 1865, p. 96.
  23. ^ Stamatiadis 1865, pp. 115–116.
  24. ^ Stamatiadis 1865, pp. 91–92.
  25. ^ Vakalopoulos 1973, p. 241.
  26. ^ "Mitgliederverzeichnis: Alexander Maurocordatus". Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina e. V. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
  27. ^ Stamatiadis 1865, pp. 89–90.

Sources

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  • Kamperidis, Lambros (2019) [2000]. "Mavrokordatos family". In Speake, Graham (ed.). Encyclopedia of Greece and the Hellenic Tradition, Volume 2: L–Z. Oxon and New York: Routledge. pp. 1014–1015. ISBN 978-1-57958-141-1.
  • Makrides, Vasilios (2019) [2000]. "Phanariots". In Speake, Graham (ed.). Encyclopedia of Greece and the Hellenic Tradition, Volume 2: L–Z. Oxon and New York: Routledge. pp. 1294–1297. ISBN 978-1-57958-141-1.
  • Philliou, Christine M. (2011). Biography of an Empire: Governing Ottomans in an Age of Revolution. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-26633-9.
  • Stamatiadis, Epameinondas (1865). Βιογραφίαι τῶν Ἑλλήνων Μεγάλων Διερμηνέων τοῡ Ὀθωμανικοῡ Κράτους [Biographies of the Greek Great Dragomans of the Ottoman State] (in Greek). Athens: K. Tefarikis.
  • Vakalopoulos, Apostolos E. (1973). Ιστορία του νέου ελληνισμού, Τόμος Δ′: Τουρκοκρατία 1669–1812 – Η οικονομική άνοδος και ο φωτισμός του γένους (Έκδοση Β′) [History of modern Hellenism, Volume IV: Turkish rule 1669–1812 – Economic upturn and enlightenment of the nation (2nd Edition)] (in Greek). Thessaloniki: Emm. Sfakianakis & Sons.

Further reading

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  • Amantos, Konstantinos (1932). "Ἀλέξανδρος Μαυροκορδάτος ὁ ἐξ ἀπορρήτων (1641 - 1709)". Ἑλληνικά (in Greek). VI: 335–350.
  • Brătescu, George (1966). "Alexandru Mavrocordat Exaporitul și medicina romemească". Viaṭa medicală (in Romanian). XIII (20): 1417–1422.
  • Camariano, Nestor (1970). Alexandre Mavrocordato, le Grand Drogman. Son activité diplomatique (1673-1709) (in French). Thessaloniki: Institute for Balkan Studies.
  • Irmscher, Johannes (1999). "Alexandros Mavrokordatos, Greek scholar and Turkish diplomat". XII. Türk Tarih Kongresi, Ankara: 12-16 Eylül 1994. Kongreye sunulan bildiriler. Vol. 3. Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu. pp. 1005–1008. ISBN 975-16-1172-5.
  • Stourdza, Alexandre A. C. (1912). Figures liellénigues méconnues: 1. Alexandre Maurocordato l'Exaporite 1641-1709 (in French). Paris.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Tsirpanlis, Z. N. (1975). "Ἀλέξανδρος Μαυροκορδάτος ὁ ἐξ Ἀπορρήτων (Νέα στοιχεῖα καὶ νέες ἀπόψεις)". Δωδώνη (in Greek). 4: 273–292.
  • Vallery-Rodot, Pierre (1960). "Un médecin diplomate: le docteur Alexandre Mavrocordato (1641—1709)". La Presse Médicale (in French). LXVIII (89): 2349ff.
Preceded by Grand Dragoman of the Porte
1673–1683 		Succeeded by
Sefer Agha
Preceded by
Sefer Agha
 Grand Dragoman of the Porte
1684–1709
With: Nicholas Mavrocordatos (from 1698) 		Succeeded by
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