Eugenios Voulgaris

Eugenios Voulgaris was a Greek Orthodox cleric, author, educator, mathematician, astronomer, physicist, and philosopher. He was one of the leading figures of the Modern Greek Enlightenment, a movement that sought to revive the Greek culture and education under Ottoman rule. He wrote about various disciplines, such as theology, philosophy, history, grammar, linguistics, astronomy, physics, and politics. He also translated many texts from Latin and French into Greek, and edited valuable editions of Byzantine writers and classical books. He was a student of Methodios Anthrakites, Vikentios Damodos, and Athanasios Psalidas. He taught in several schools in Greece, such as the Maroutsaia School in Ioannina and the Athonite Academy in Mount Athos. He also briefly headed the Patriarchal Academy in Constantinople. However, he faced opposition from some Orthodox leaders who were suspicious of his Western influences and his advocacy of natural philosophy. In 1761, he left his educational career and moved to Russia, where he was invited by Empress Catherine II. He became the Archbishop of Cherson in Crimea, and later a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He continued to write and publish his works in Russia, and maintained correspondence with many European scholars and intellectuals. He died in Saint Petersburg in 1806, and was buried in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. He is regarded as one of the most eminent Greek scholars and thinkers of the 18th century, and a pioneer of the Greek cultural revival.