Ioannis Kapodistrias

Ioannis Kapodistrias was a Greek statesman who played a prominent role in the Russian foreign service and the Greek struggle for independence. He was born in Corfu, a Venetian island that had a strong Greek cultural identity. He studied medicine at the University of Padua and became involved in politics as a minister of the Septinsular Republic, a semi-autonomous entity under French and Russian protection. He rose to prominence as the Foreign Minister of Russia under Alexander I, where he advocated for a conservative and peaceful European order. He resigned in 1822 to support the Greek War of Independence, which had broken out a year earlier against the Ottoman Empire. He was elected as the first head of state of independent Greece by the Third National Assembly at Troezen in 1827. He faced many challenges in his attempt to unify and modernize the new country, such as internal factions, foreign interference, economic crisis, and social unrest. He was assassinated by two members of the Mavromichalis family, who opposed his centralizing policies, on October 9, 1831 in Nafplion, the capital of Greece at the time. He is widely regarded as the founder of the modern Greek state and the architect of Greek independence. ¹