Kōnstantinos Stamatēs Letters to Panagiōtēs Kodrikas, 1788-1794

Contents and Arrangement

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Collection Overview

Creator:

Stamatēs, Kōnstantinos (1764-1817)

Title:

Kōnstantinos Stamatēs Letters to Panagiōtēs Kodrikas

Repository:

Manuscripts Division

Permanent URL:

http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/c247dv858

Dates:

1788-1794

Size:

1 box and 0.4 linear feet

Storage Note:

Firestone Library (scamss): Box B-000778

Language:

Greek, Modern French

Abstract: Kōnstantinos Stamatēs (1764-1817) was a Greek patriot and secret agent working for the French government and for Michael Soutzo, the Prince of Wallachia and Moldavia, during the French Revolution. The collection consists of one hundred and ninety-eight letters from Stamatēs to Panagiōtēs Kodrikas (1762-1827), then secretary to Soutzo. Letters are primarily in Greek and are addressed from Paris (November 25, 1788 - 11 September 1793), Rouen (September 17, 1793), Le Havre-de-Grâce (September 30, 1793), Hamburg (October 15, 1793 - February 22, 1794), and Altona (March 1 - December 27, 1794).

Collection Description & Creator Information

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of one hundred and ninety-eight autograph letters sent between 1788 and 1794 by Greek patriot and French secret agent Kōnstantinos Stamatēs to Panagiōtēs Kodrikas (1762-1827), then the secretary to Michael Soutzo (1729-1803), the Prince of Wallachia and Moldavia, who was the final recipient of the letters. Addressed from Paris (November 25, 1788 - 11 September 1793), Rouen (September 17, 1793), Le Havre-de-Grâce (September 30, 1793), Hamburg (October 15, 1793 - February 22, 1794), and Altona (March 1 - December 27, 1794), the letters comprise 842 pages bound into three volumes in chronological order. While the vast majority of letters are in Greek, a few are in French, including two in a different hand.

In 1872, French Hellenistic scholar Émile Legrand (1841-1903) published a small sample of ten of Stamatēs's letters as Lettres de Constantin Stamaty à Panagiotis Kodrikas sur la Révolution française, janvier 1793 and announced his intention to print the Stamatēs-Kodrikas letters from Paris in their entirety. However, the proposed complete edition was never published.

Arrangement

Letters are arranged chronologically within three bound volumes.

Collection Creator Biography:

Stamatēs

Kōnstantinos Stamatēs (1764-1817) was a Greek patriot, diplomat, journalist, and secret agent who worked covertly for the French foreign ministry and for the Prince of Wallachia and Moldavia, Michael Soutzo, during the French Revolution. Originally from Argos, Stamatēs left Istanbul in 1787 to study medicine in Paris and eventually gained French citizenship. Abandoning his studies around 1790 to participate in political causes, Stamatēs became actively involved with French efforts to generate an uprising in the western provinces of the Ottoman Empire towards the end of the 18th century. He served as general counsel for France in the Danube and Altona and undertook secret missions to procure arms to support the Greek independence movement.

Collection History

Acquisition:: Purchased in 2016 , with matching funds provided by the Program in Hellenic Studies with the support of the Stanley J. Seeger Hellenic Fund (AM 2017-27).
Appraisal: No materials were separated during 2016 processing.
Processing Information: This collection was processed by Kelly Bolding in August 2016. Finding aid written by Kelly Bolding in August 2016.

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Open for research.

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