Constantine Paparregopoulus
Encyclopedia
Historiography
Historiography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...
. He analysed Greek history from ancient to the present as a continuous history in his multi-volume History of the Greek Nation, and is also known for his original research in Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
history as well as in other fields of Greek studies.
His life
Paparrigopoulos was born in ConstantinopleConstantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
in 1815. His father, a native of Vytina
Vytina
Vytina is a village and a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Gortynia, of which it is a municipal unit. The seat of the municipality was the village Vytina. Its inhabitants are known as Vytiniots. Greek...
, was killed by the rabble of Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
when the Greek War of Independence
Greek War of Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between...
erupted in 1821. Paparrigopoulos not only saw this grisly spectacle, but he also attended the execution of his brother, Michael, and of his two uncles. His mother who survived the slaughters fled to Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
, where Paparrigopoulos accomplished his studies as a bursar of the Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
Alexander I
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....
.
In 1830 Paparrigopoulos travelled to Greece to study in the "Central School" (Κεντρικό Σχολείο) of Aegina, founded by the Greek leader Ioannis Kapodistrias. He continued his studies in the universities of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Returning to Greece Paparrigopoulos was appointed in the ministry of Justice, but in 1845 he withdrew because he did not yet possess a Greek nationality
Nationality
Nationality is membership of a nation or sovereign state, usually determined by their citizenship, but sometimes by ethnicity or place of residence, or based on their sense of national identity....
. He was reappointed as a teacher when he obtained the Greek nationality
Nationality
Nationality is membership of a nation or sovereign state, usually determined by their citizenship, but sometimes by ethnicity or place of residence, or based on their sense of national identity....
(as a "Gortynian
Gortyna, Arcadia
Gortyna , is a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Megalopoli, of which it is a municipal unit. Its seat was in the village Karytaina...
"). In 1851 he became a professor of history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens , usually referred to simply as the University of Athens, is the oldest university in Southeast Europe and has been in continuous operation since its establishment in 1837. Today, it is the second-largest institution of higher learning in Greece,...
.
In 1873 Paparrigopoulos lost his beloved son and famous poet, Dimitrios Paparrigopoulos. In 1876 and 1884 the Greek state utilised him for national purposes, appointing him as president of the "National Defence" and as president of the "Exhibition of the relics of the War of Independence".
His work
In 1843, while working in the Ministry of Justice, Paparrigopoulos published his first survey, About the emigration of Slav tribes in PeloponnesePeloponnese
The Peloponnese, Peloponnesos or Peloponnesus , is a large peninsula , located in a region of southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth...
, contradicting with robust arguments Fallmerayer's
Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer
Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer was a Tyrolean traveller, journalist, politician and historian, best known for his controversial theories concerning the racial origins of the Greeks, and for his travel writings.-Education:Fallmerayer was born, the seventh of ten children, in Weiler Pairdorf, a village...
opinion that modern Greeks are of Slav descent, having no racial relation with the ancient Greeks. In 1844, he published his second survey, The last year of the Greek independence, treating the fall of Corinth
Corinth
Corinth is a city and former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Corinth, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit...
. In 1855 he gave his inaugural lecture as professor of the university, contradicting a theory that did not recognise the importance of the Dorian influence on the civilization of ancient Greece.
Nonetheless, his monumental writing is the History of the Greek nation, comprising 6 volumes, which were later complemented by Pavlos Karolidis
Pavlos Karolidis
Pavlos Karolidis or Karolides was one of the most eminent Greek historians of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.- Life :Karolidis was born in 1849 in the village of Androniki in Cappadocia. His father Konstantinos Karolidis or Karloglou was a wealthy landowner and wheat merchant...
. Paparrigopoulos published the first volume in 1860 and completed his work in 1877 with the last volume, which constituted a synopsis of the Greek War of Independence
Greek War of Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between...
. The best edition of the History of the Greek nation is the edition of Eleftheroudakis in 1925 with the application of Karolidis. In this work he adopted the tripartite examination of periods already introduced by Spyros Zampelios (ancient Hellenism
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
, medieval Hellenism
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
, modern Hellenism
History of modern Greece
The history of modern Greece covers the history of Greece from the recognition of independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1832 after the Greek War of Independence to the present day.- Background :In 1821, the Greeks rose up against the Ottoman Empire...
) and used it as a tool for the narration of the course of the Greek nation
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
throughout the centuries.
Assessments
Paparrigopoulos is considered the "national" historian of modern Greece. In his History of the Greek Nation, he regarded the history of GreeceGreece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
from the ancient years till nowadays as a unity, insisting on the continuity of the Greek nation. At the same time he promoted the importance of the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
and of the Byzantine history in general. Because of his profound surveys, the disdain towards the Byzantine history was limited.
The interpretation of Byzantium's
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
Greek character in the work of Sp. Zampelios was the first step in the effort to refute Fallmerayer's theory. It was supported that the ancient Greek civilization had not faded away, but had been creatively reshaped as it met Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, which took place during the Byzantine Empire. With Zampelios then, the foundations were prepared in order for a total national history to be written, in order for the past, the continuous course of the Greek nation from antiquity
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
till the 19th century, to be narrated. This ambitious project was undertaken and completed by Constantine Paparrigopoulos, who is considered for this reason the founder of Greek national historiography, also known as Greek historism.
Paparrigopoulos, as well as Sp. Zampelios set the basis for the formation of national identity in modern Greek society. Besides, their work did not concern only a closed and restricted circle of specialists and academics. It was addressed to the society of their times, in order to strengthen their national self-knowledge. Besides, Paparrigopoulos' classes at the University, which constituted the raw material for the writing of his memorable History, were frequently published in Pandora magazine, of which he was the co-publisher, as well as in the Athenian Press. The term Greek-Christian which was devised for scientific purposes, functioned towards the same direction but did not remain a simple instrument of analysis in the hands of specialists. As this term appeared in mid-ninth century exactly, it became a canvass on which the ideology of the Greek state was developed and shaped. The content of education, the orientation of historical studies and the study of tradition (folklore) were organized on this basis. In addition, the Megali Idea
Megali Idea
The Megali Idea was an irredentist concept of Greek nationalism that expressed the goal of establishing a Greek state that would encompass all ethnic Greek-inhabited areas, since large Greek populations after the restoration of Greek independence in 1830 still lived under Ottoman rule.The term...
(Greek Great Idea) which was nebulous until that time, acquired flesh and bones. The Byzantine Empire, which had now been acclaimed a cultural mold of the Greek state which was still small, became the model for its territorial expansion.
Another great virtue of Paparrigopoulos is the elegance of his style and his literary charisma, which makes his texts readable and his narrations particularly vivid. His elegance is the main merit that places him higher than the other great modern Greek historian, Pavlos Karolidis.
Paparrigopoulos not only offered a united image of the history (ancient-medieval-modern) of the Greek nation, but, at the same time, he articulated in the most stirring way the pains and the dramas of the modern Hellenism.
His writings
All his main writings are in Greek.- About the emigration of Slav tribes in Peloponnese, 1843.
- The last year of the Greek independence, 1844.
- Elements of General History, 1845.
- General History, 2 volumes, 1849.
- Introductory lesson, 1855.
- History of the Hellenic nation, 6 volumes, 1860-1877.
Sources
- C. Paparrigopoulos (and in later editions, P. Karolidis), History of the Greek Nation, Volume I, Biography of Constantine Paparrigopoulos by Pavlos Karolidis, Editions: Eleftheroudakis, 1925 (in Greek).
- Encyclopaedic Dictionary, The Helios, Volume 15, article: "Constantine Paparrigopoulos" (in Greek).