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Dēmētrios S. Inglezēs: Greek Merchant and City Leader of Odessa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2017

Theophilus C. Prousis
Theophilus C. Prousis*
Affiliation:
Department of History and Philosophy, University of North Florida
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Slavic Review , Volume 50 , Issue 3 , Fall 1991 , pp. 672 - 679
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Copyright © Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies. 1991

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References

The research for this article was made possible by the support of the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) and by the assistance of the archival staff at the state archive of Odessa oblast (GAOO).

1. See Herlihy, Patricia, “The Ethnic Composition of the City of Odessa in the Nineteenth Century,” Harvard Ukrainian Studies 1 (1977): 53–78 Google Scholar; idem, “Greek Merchants in Odessa in the Nineteenth Century,” Harvard Ukrainian Studies 3-4 (1979-1980): 399-420; and idem, “The Greek Community in Odessa, 1861-1917,” Journal of Modern Greek Studies 7 (1989): 235-252. Herlihy's work on the Greek community is included in her Odessa: A History, 1794-1914, Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute Monograph Series (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1986). The most prominent Soviet historian dealing with Greek-Slavic relations, specifically with Greek national independence and Russia, is Grigorii L. Arsh. His works Eteristskoe dvizhenie v Rossii. Osvoboditel'naia bor'ba grecheskogo naroda v nachale XIX v. i russko-grecheskie sviazi (Moscow: Nauka, 1970) and /. Kapodistriia i grecheskoe natsional'no-osvoboditel'noe dvizhenie, 1809-1822 gg. (Moscow: Nauka, 1976) are solidly grounded in archival sources. Arsh has also published several articles on Greek-Slavic themes in Balkanskie issledovaniia. For a review of the contributions by Arsh and other Soviet neohellenists to the first ten volumes of Balkanskie issledovaniia (1974-1987) see Papoulidis, Constantine C., “Themes of Modern Greek History in Recent Soviet Publications on Balkan Studies,” Modern Greek Studies Yearbook 3 (1987): 273–281 Google Scholar. The first six volumes of Modern Greek Studies Yearbook (1985-1990) contain several additional articles on specific aspects of Greek-Slavic cultural relations. This article is based almost entirely on Inglezes's personal archive, in the state archive of Odessa oblast. The fond contains fifteen dela, ranging from two to seven pages except for his formuliarnyi spisok, a thirty-three page document constituting the best single source on Inglezes. GAOO, fond 268, opis’ 1, dela 1-15. The formuliarnyi spisok is indelo 2. Unless otherwise indicated, all subsequent references to GAOO are from this fond and opis'. The information in the fond has dictated that this research focus on the public rather than the private life of Inglezes. While described as a lichnyifond, it contains precious little on his family, household, residence, merchant firm, and other personal matters that would lend a more human dimension to this portrait of Inglezes. Even some of his civic endeavors are not described in sufficient detail, thus imparting a sense of incompleteness to this discussion of his activities. Despite these constraints, the fond does contain enough information to suggest the extent of his assimilation and wide-ranging public service. Further investigation of municipal records will probably unearth additional material on his public and, perhaps, his private life, thereby allowing a more well-rounded profile of Inglezes.

2. GAOO, f. 268, op.l, d. 1 “Dokumenty o proiskhozhdenii roda Inglezi iz dvorian Venetsianskoi respubliki,” 1. l-7a.

3. Ibid., d. 2, 1. 1-8. On the storm see Inglezes's nekrolog, or obituary, in Odesskii vestnik, no. 4 (22 May 1846): 203-204 (hereafter cited as nekrolog). See Herlihy, Odessa, 21-48, on the effect of Richelieu's policies on municipal development. A. M. Stanislavskaia discusses Russia's Ionian protectorate in Rossiia i Gretsiia. Politika Rossii v lonicheskoi respublike, 1798-1807 gg. (Moscow, 1983).

4. Bartlett, Roger, Human Capital: The Settlement of Foreigners in Russia, 1762-1804 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, provides a general picture of foreign settlement in Novorossiia. On Greek migration see Piatigorskii, G. M., “Grecheskie pereselentsy v Odesse v kontse XVIII-pervoi treti XIX v.,” in Iz istorii iazyka i kul'tury stran Tsentral'noi i lugo-Vostochnoi Evropy, ed. V. N. Vinogradov (Moscow: Nauka, 1985), 33–60 Google Scholar; Arsh, G. L., “Grecheskaia emigratsiia v Rossiiu v kontse XVIII-nachale XIX v.,” Sovetskaia etnografiia, no. 3 (1969): 85–95Google Scholar; and Nicholas C. Pappas, “Greeks in Russian Military Service in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries” (Ph.D. diss., Stanford University, 1982). On the merchant marine see Leon, George, “The Greek Merchant Marine (1453-1850),” in The Greek Merchant Marine, ed. S. A. Papadopoulos (Athens, 1972), 32–43 Google Scholar. On the expansion of Greek trade activity see Stoianovich, Traian, “The Conquering Balkan Orthodox Merchant,” Journal of Economic History 20 (1960): 234–313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

5. In addition to Herlihy's works, see Karidis, V, “A Greek Mercantile paroikia: Odessa, 1774-1829,” in Balkan Society in the Age of Greek Independence, ed. Richard Clogg (Totowa, N.J.: Barnes and Noble, 1981), 111–136 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and Nicolopoulos, J, “Correspondence commerciale d'Odessa: Quelques renseignements sur l'activite des Grecs en Russie meridionale en XIX siecle,” Eranistes 17 (1983): 224–235.Google Scholar

6. Logios Ermes, no. 1 (January 1817): 13-14.

7. Herlihy, “Greek Merchants in Odessa,” 401, 407-412. The merchant firm of the Rallis family, one of the largest companies in Odessa, had branch offices in Constantinople, Marseilles, London, and Manchester. Western travelers, like Henry Holland in Travels in the Ionians, Albania, Thessaly, and Macedonia (London, 1815), 148-150, often noted the family and business networks linking Greek merchants in Europe, Russia, and the Greek world.

8. GAOO, d. 2, 1. 1-8. Herlihy, “Greek Merchants in Odessa,” 418, notes that several members of the Inglezes family were included in the Odessa city directory for 1910.

9. Nekrolog, 203-204.

10. GAOO, d. 2, 1. 1-7, and d. 3, “Uchastie v komitete o dokhodakh i raskhodakh Odessy,” 1. 1-7. Inglezes was not the first Ionian Greek to participate in municipal governance. The merchant Ivan P. Destunis served as burgomaster on the Odessan town council from 1797 to 1800, earning the praise of government authorities, including Tsar Paul I, for his successful discharge of duty and his contribution to the wellbeing of the new town. See Theophilus C. Prousis, “The Destunis Collection in the Manuscript Section of the Saltykov-Shchedrin State Public Library in Leningrad,” Modern Greek Studies Yearbook 5 (1989): 407-408.

11. GAOO, d. 3, “Kvitansiia o poluchennykh pozhertvovaniiakh na opolchenii,” 1. 1, and G. M. Piatigorskii, “Grecheskie pereselentsy v Odesse,” 51. GAOO, d. 13, “O pozhertvovanii v pol'zu Odesskogo gospitalia grecheskimi kuptsami,” 1. 1-2.

12. Nekrolog, 203-204. See Herlihy, Odessa, 45-46, 132-133, 234-235, on plague and cholera epidemics in Odessa.

13. GAOO, d. 2, 1. 13-16, 1-8. Additional research in GAOO, especially the records of the city council, may further illuminate Inglezes's term as mayor.

14. Herlihy, Odessa, 115.

15. For a general picture see Geanokoplos, Deno J., “The Diaspora Greeks: The Genesis of Modern Greek National Consciousness,” in Hellenism and the First Greek War of Liberation (1821-1830): Continuity and Change, eds. Nikiforos Diamandouros et al. (Thessaloniki: Institute for Balkan Studies, 1976), 59–77 Google Scholar. See Arsh, Eteristskoe dvizhenie v Rossii, 129-166, 200-222, on the retention of national consciousness in the Greek communities of Russia. E en Odesso Elleniki Ekklesia tes Agios Triadas, 1808-1908‘(Odessa, 1908) provides a historical sketch of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church of Odessa, an institution that preserved Greek cultural tradition. On the Greek Enlightenment in Russia see the works of Arsh, Kapodistriia i grecheskoe natsional'no-osvoboditel'noe dvizhenie, 124-169; idem, “Novogrecheskoe Prosveshchenie i Rossiia, k postanovke probleme,” Balkanskie issledovaniia 9 (1984): 304—313; and idem, “Grecheskii uchenyi D. Gobdelas v Rossii,” Balkanskie issledovaniia 6 (1980): 161-173. The connection between diaspora merchants and Greek learning is illustrated by the Zosimas brothers of Moscow who sponsored the monumental edition of the Greek classics published in Paris by Adamantios Koraes, the Greek educator and a leading figure in the Greek Enlightenment. See Michalopoulos, Phanes, Ta Giannina kai e neoellenike anagennese, 1648-1820 (Athens, 1930), 12-87.Google Scholar

16. GAOO, d. 4, “Uchastie v komissiiakh po proverke schetnykh del Rishel’ evskogo litseia,” 1. 1-3, and d. 5, “Uchastie v sovete Odesskogo devich'iago instituta,” 1. 1 —la. On the school curriculum see Ch. Voulodemos, Prote pentekontaeteris tes en Odesso Elleno-emporikes scholes (1817-1867) (Odessa, 1871), 207-213. For a recent study of the school based on archival materials from the Ministry of Public Education see Arsh, , “Grecheskoe kommercheskoe uchilishche Odessy v 1817-1830 gg. (Iz istorii novogrecheskogo Prosveshcheniia),” Balkanskie issledovaniia 10 (1987): 31–61 Google Scholar. On its reputation see “O grecheskom uchilishche v Odesse,” Vestnik Evropy 110, no. 7 (1820): 202-208, and Voulodemos, Prote pentekontaeteris, 108-110. On the Greek theater see Zoides, G, “To theatro tes Philikes Etaireias,” in Ellenismos eis to exoterikon, eds. J. Irmscher and M. Mineemi (Berlin, 1968), 397–436 Google Scholar. The Section of Rare Books and Manuscripts in the Gor'kii Public Library in Odessa has numerous Greek texts representative of the Greek Enlightenment, including the three-volume Greek dictionary of Anthimos Gazes published in Venice from 1809 to 1816.

17. The society's founders were Emannouel Xanthos, a clerk in a firm that was out of business, Nikolaos Skouphas, an artisan who lost property because of bankruptcy, and Athanasios Tsakaloff, a clerk in a shipping company. George D. Frangos, “The Philike Etaireia, 1814-1821: A Social and Historical Analysis” (Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, 1971), discusses in great detail the social composition of the society.

18. Ibid., 136-139, and Arsh, Eteristskoe dvizhenie v Rossii, 167-296. On the Ypselantes family in Russia see Arsh, “Ipsilantiv Rossii,” Voprosy istorii, no. 3 (1985): 88—101, which also appeared in English in Balkan Studies, no. 1 (1985): 73-90. Phanariots were prosperous aristocratic Greeks named after the Phanar, or lighthouse, district of Constantinople where many of them lived.

19. Arsh, Eteristskoe dvizhenie v Rossii, 259-261.

20. Ibid., 300-304, 333-346, on the patriotic activity of Greeks in Russia after the Ypselantes uprising. On Russian philhellenism see Theophilus C. Prousis, “Russian Cultural Response to the Greek War of Independence (1821-1830)” (Ph.D. diss. University of Minnesota, 1982), and on Pushkin see the recent work of la. L. Levkovich, “Tri pis'ma Pushkina o Grecheskoi revoliutsii 1821 goda,” Vremennik Pushkinskoi komissii, no. 21 (1987): 16-23. Ypselantes's letter is in GAOO, d. 1, 1. 15.

21. Greek relief projects are treated in Theophilus C. Prousis, “Russian Philorthodox Relief during the Greek War of Independence,” Modern Greek Studies Yearbook 1 (1985): 31-62, and in G. M. Piatigorskii, “Deiatel'nost’ Odesskoi grecheskoi vspomogatel'noi komissii v 1821-1831 gg. (Po materialam Gosudarstvennogo arkhiva Odesskoi Obi.),” Balkanskie issledovaniia 8 (1982): 135-152.

22. GAOO, d. 14, “Ob Odesskoi grecheskoi vspomogatel'noi komissii,” 1. 1 — la. In addition to his participation in Greek relief efforts, Inglezes served on the initial staff of the office of public assistance (1823-1825). See d. 6, “O deiatel'nosti v Odesskoi prikaze obshchestvennogo prizreniia,” 1. l-2a. Copies of Inglezes's records are located in GAOO, f. 1, op. 200, d. 72, 1. 344-390, and in the Central State Historical Archive, Lenningrad (TsGIA), f. 797, op. 2, d. 6395, 1. 125-131, 146-152; d. 6450, 1. 4-12, 29-35, 44-52, 69-72a, 91 -96, 118-126; and d. 6520, 1. 138-144. The distribution process of the committee and the amounts of assistance issued to refugees are covered in Prousis, “Russian Philorthodox Relief,” and Piatigorskii, “Deiatel'nost'.” Golitsyn's letter is in GAOO, f. 268, op. 1, d. 14, 1. 2-2a, and Vorontsov's is in 1. 8. See Herlihy, Odessa, 76-82, 116-137, on the policies of Vorontsov in Novorossiia.

23. GAOO, f. 268, op. 1, d. 14, 1. 4-4a.

24. Ibid., d. 1, 1. 34-35. During ten years in Russia (1821-1831), Oikonomos published several sermons and scholarly works and promoted the Greek cause in the context of Greek-Russian religious ties. His career in Russia is similar to that of another Greek cleric described in Batalden, Stephen K., Catherine Il's Greek Prelate: Eugenios Voulgaris in Russia, 1771-1806, East European Monographs (New York: Columbia University Press, 1982 Google Scholar.

25. GAOO, d. 14, 1. 5-6, and TsGIA, f. 797, op. 2, d. 6449, 1. 1-192. Inglezes and fellow merchants Alexandras Koumbares and Alexandras Mavros organized the ransom collection in Odessa, one of numerous Greek communities in Russia that participated in the ransom drive.

26. Koukkou, Elene, Ioannes Kapodistrias. O anthropos-o diplomats (1800-1828), 2nd. ed. (Athens, 1984), 218–225 Google Scholar. GAOO, d. 1, 1. 21-25, 26-27a; Nekrolog, 203-204.

27. TsGIA, f. 797, op. 2, d. 6484, 1. 13-18a; d. 6504, 1. 1-26; d. 6506, 1. 1-21; d. 6395, 1. 127; d. 6517, 1. 14-16.

28. GAOO, d. 8, “Mnenie o torgovlykh perspektivakh po vyvozu khleba za-granitsu iz nashikh portov posle voiny,” 1. 1 — la.

29. Ibid., d. 15, “O merakh prekrashchenii kholery i chumy v Odesse,” 1. 3-3a.

30. Ibid., 1. 5-5a., l. 7, 1.8-10.

31. Ibid., d. 10, “O zakupke khleba dlia pomoshchi bedstuiushchim ot urozhnaia,” 1. 1 — la, 6-7.

32. Ibid., 1. 2-2a.

33. Herlihy, Odessa, 131.

34. GAOO, d. 11, “O zamoshchenii ulits Odessy,” 1. 1-5.

35. Ibid., d. 16, “O poezdke v Konstantinopol’ i Gretsiiu,” 1. 2-8.

36. Herlihy, Odessa, 132, 237.