Son of Scarlat Callimachi, Alexandru Callimachi fled Moldavia

Moldavia

Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...

 with his mother and other members of his family in 1821, at the time of his father's death. The family sought refuge in Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, where Alexander finished his studies, at the University of Kiev

Kiev

Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

. After traveling through Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, he made his way to Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 in 1829, where his family possessions and titles were restored to him.

He entered the service of the Ottoman

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 administration, first serving as attache and later as counselor to Rashid Pasha, the Ottoman ambassador to Paris at the time.

In 1848 he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, and then, a year later, to Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 under the same title. In 1850 he was appointed Bey of Samos

Samos Island

Samos is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of Asia Minor, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a separate regional unit of the North Aegean region, and the only municipality of the regional...

, a position which he never accepted personally, choosing rather to administer the island through the offices of a delegate, Georgios Konemenos. Though his rule was resisted by some of the islanders, he is known for having founded the constitutional political system of the Principality. That consisted of the separation of the divided the legislative, executive and judicial powers. He also advanced the educational system, establishing four Greek schools and twenty two elementary schools, and also established a system of courts as well as a printing house.

In 1853 he retired to Versailles

Versailles

Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...

 but was recalled in 1855 was appointed ambassador to Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, a position which he was only able to assume after having played an important part in the Istanbul conferences on the re-organization of the Danubian principalities.

For his services, in June 1861, Kallimachis was granted the Ottoman title of Bala, the first Christian to have been conferred that honor.

Sources

• Nita Dan Danielescu. "Gavriil Callimachi, ctitorul Catedralei mitropolitane Sf. Gheorghe din Iasi" Ziarul Lumina, 2006-02-20
• Thompson Cooper
  Thompson Cooper
  Thompson Cooper was an English journalist, man of letters, and compiler of reference works. He became a specialist in biographical information, and is noted as the most prolific contributor to the Victorian era Dictionary of National Biography, for which he wrote 1423 entries.-Life:Thompson Cooper...
  
  . Men of the Time: A Dictionary of Contemporaries. p. 201; G. Routledge and sons, London, New York, 1875
• The History of Samos http://hellas.teipir.gr/Thesis/samos/english/tdk131.html