Maximos of Gallipoli, (died 1633) was a hieromonk who made the first translation of the New Testament into modern Greek

Bible translations into Greek

Bible translations into Greek begin with the Septuagint , the ancient translation of the Hebrew Bible into Koine Greek , was the very first Bible translation in any language...

 after 1629. This was at the initiative of the reforming Patriarch Cyril Lucaris

Cyril Lucaris

Cyril Lucaris born Constantine Lukaris or Loucaris was a Greek prelate and theologian, and a native of Candia, Crete . He later became the Greek Patriarch of Alexandria as Cyril III and Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople as Cyril I...

 of Constantinople, who was later strangled. With the assistance of the Dutch ambassador to Constantinople it was printed at Geneva in 1638. Meletios Sirigos (1590–1664) vehemently opposed Maximos's translation.

Since Patriarch Lucaris had been strangled Maximos' New Testament was hardly used, the next would-be translator of the New Testament, the monk Seraphim, was exiled to Siberia. In the 19th Century the BFBS assisted the monk Neophytos Vamvas 1776-1866 to make his translation but again it was not made available. The nationalist Alexandros Pallis

Alexandros Pallis

Alexandros Pallis was a Greek educational and language reformer who translated the New Testament into Modern Greek. The publication, in the Acropolis newspaper, caused riots in Athens in 1901 in which 8 people died...

' translation, in the Acropolis newspaper, caused riots in 1901 in which 8 people died. The New Testament in modern Greek was finally allowed in 1924.