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Important figures
During
the great fight of Hellas to free itself from the Turks, many of the
Patmians played key roles. Apart from the three most known, the
principal of the "Filiki Eteria" (Association of Friends) Emanuel
Xanthos, the patriarch of Alexandria, Theofilos Pagostas and the great
apostle of the message of "Filiki Eteria", Dimitrios Themelis, all
Patmians, none excluded, played a greatly active role in the fight!
Known names of the army of Patmians at
the time include Μ. Pagalos, Emanuel and George Kalos, the sergeants
of Dimitrios Ipsilantis, Emanuel and Theodore Xenos, supplying the
army of Karaeskakis and used their boats to supply goods to the
besieged town of Messologi! In fact, Emanuel Xanthos, who was a
scholar, was elected member of the commission that would negotiate
peace with the sultan after the intervention of G. Kanigas!
Patmos was the second island after
Spetses to rise the flag of liberation on the third day of Easter, in
the square of Saint Levia. Patmos, gained its freedom really fast and
became the first capital of what was called "Complementary islands of
the eastern part of the Sporades". These were the four islands of
Ikaria, Leros, Kalymnos and Patmos! Yet this liberation was temporary!
With the Convention of Constantinople, on 9th June 1832,
Patmos, once again was made part of the Ottoman state, and was led to
have the luck of the rest of the Dodecanese! In 1912 Patmos was
captured by the Italians and it was not before the end of the Second
World War, that the island became part of the Hellenic state, in 1947.
Emanuel
Xanthos
Emanuel Xanthos was born in Patmos in
1772. He attended courses at the School of Patmos (Patmiada) for a
little while, but he was forced to abandon education in order to work.
His father, Nicolas Xanthos had been in
the Russian army and his mother Doukena came from one of the best
families of the island. Ever since he was young he was distinguished
for his hard work, his sensitive heart and his self-contained talking,
which was one of the basic advantages of the future principle of the
Filiki Eteria. Xanthos went abroad when he was 20 years old at the end
of the 18th century, as his parents sent him to Trieste,
which, at the time, was the usual place for youngsters from Hellenic
places occupied by the Turks to go to. It was the place where many
Patmian traders lived. Soon he was distinguished and he developed a
valued trading activity. Later, in 1810 he moved to Odyssey, were he
was involved in trading again. According to the Lecturer of History,
at the University of Athens, Apostolos V. Daskalakis "If Xanthos
remained focused only on his trading activities, he would have become
the wealthiest fellow countryman"
Yet, Xanthos had different views. Many
factors helped him to cultivate the idea of revolution. Without doubt
the founding of Filiki Eteria was vital for this purpose.
As it has historically been confirmed,
the course and its patriotic activity are closely connected with the
name of Emanuel Xanthos. Source: Emanuel Xanthos, the Filiki
Etairia and the Revolution of 1821, by Kyriakos I. Finas
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