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Georgios Kountouriotis

Georgios Kountouriotis (Greek: Γεώργιος Κουντουριώτης) (1782 – 13 March 1858) was a Greek ship-owner and politician who served as prime minister from March to October 1848. He was born in 1782 on the Saronic island of Hydra to an Arvanite family. He was the brother of Lazaros Kountouriotis, another ship-owner of the Greek War of Independence and grandfather of Pavlos Kountouriotis who fought in the First Balkan War and later served as first (1924-1926) President of the Second Hellenic Republic.

When the War of Independence broke out, Georgios, along with the rest of the Kountouriotis family, supported the effort with generous donations as well as with their ships. He was often at odds with other Hydriot sea captains, but ultimately was the wealthiest. Georgios Kountouriotis became a member of the executive committee of the Greek Revolution and served as its president from 1823 to 1826 during the crucial time of the siege of Missolonghi.

After independence, he became a member of the cabinet of Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first governor of Greece. He was a semi-independent adherent of the French Party mostly due to his antipathy to the Russian Party and his fellow Hydriots of the English Party. During the period of French Party ascendancy in the reign of King Otto, he served as Prime Minister. He died in 1858.

The Koundouriotis family used extensively their native Arvanitic dialect of Hydra. The dialect has been do*ented in two letters of Georgios' private correspondence with Ioannis Orlandos, written in the Greek alphabet. Koundouriotis spoke Greek only with difficulty.

References

    Greek EnlightenmentEuropean intervention and
    Greek involvement in
    the Napoleonic Wars
    • Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774)
    • Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca
    • Greek Plan of Catherine the Great
    • Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792)
    • French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars
      • Fall of the Republic of Venice
      • Republican French rule in the Ionian Islands
      • Septinsular Republic
      • Greek Legion
      • Imperial French rule in the Ionian Islands
      • Albanian Regiment
      • Adriatic campaign of 1807–1814
      • 1st Regiment Greek Light Infantry
    • United States of the Ionian Islands
    Ideas
    • Greek nationalism
    • Eastern Orthodox Christianity
    • Liberalism
    • Cons*utionalism
    • Monarchism
    EventsSieges
    • Patras
    • Salona
    • Navarino
    • Livadeia
    • 1st Acropolis
    • Tripolitsa
    • Arta
    • Acrocorinth
    • Nauplia
    • 1st Messolonghi
    • 2nd Messolonghi
    • 3rd Messolonghi
    • 2nd Acropolis
    Battles
    • Kalamata
    • Wallachian uprising
    • Alamana
    • Gravia
    • Valtetsi
    • Doliana
    • Lalas
    • Vasilika
    • Dragashani
    • Sculeni
    • Vasilika
    • Trench
    • Peta
    • Dervenakia
    • Kar*i
    • Greek civil wars
    • Sphacteria
    • Maniaki
    • Lerna Mills
    • Mani
    • Distomo
    • Arachova
    • Kamatero
    • Phaleron
    • Chios expedition
    • Martino
    • Koronisia
    • Petra
    M*acres
    • Constantinople
    • Thessaloniki
    • Navarino
    • Tripolitsa
    • Naousa
    • Samothrace
    • Chios
    • Psara
    • Kasos
    • Cyprus
    Naval conflicts
    • Eresos
    • Chios
    • Nauplia
    • Samos
    • Andros
    • Sphacteria
    • Gerontas
    • Souda
    • Alexandria
    • Volos
    • Itea
    • Navarino
    Ships
    • Greek sloop Karteria
    • Greek brig Aris
    Greek regional councils and statutes
    • Messenian Senate
    • Directorate of Achaea
    • Peloponnesian Senate
    • Senate of Western Continental Greece
    • Areopagus of Eastern Continental Greece
    • Provisional Regime of Crete
    • Military-Political System of Samos
    Greek national *emblies
    • First (Epidaurus) (Executive of 1822)
    • Second (Astros)
    • Third (Troezen)
    • Fourth (Argos)
    • Fifth (Nafplion)
    International Conferences,
    Treaties and Protocols
    • Congress of Laibach
    • Congress of Verona
    • Protocol of St. Petersburg (1826)
    • Treaty of London
    • Conference of Poros
    • London Protocol of 1828
    • London Protocol of 1829
    • Treaty of Adrianople
    • London Protocol of 1830
    • London Conference
    • Treaty of Constantinople
    Related
    • Greek expedition to Syria (1825)
    • Russo-Turkish War (1828-29)
    PersonalitiesGreece
    • Chian Committee
    • Odysseas Androutsos
    • Anagnostaras
    • Markos Botsaris
    • Laskarina Bouboulina
    • Constantin Denis Bourbaki
    • Hatzimichalis Dalianis
    • Kanellos Deligiannis
    • Athanasios Diakos
    • Germanos III of Old Patras
    • Nikolaos Galatis
    • Dimitrios Kallergis
    • Athanasios Kanakaris
    • Konstantinos Kanaris
    • Ioannis Kapodistrias
    • Stamatios Kapsas
    • Panagiotis Karatzas
    • Georgios Karaiskakis
    • Nikolaos Kasomoulis
    • Ioannis Kolettis
    • Theodoros Kolokotronis
    • Georgios Kountouriotis
    • Antonios Kriezis
    • Nikolaos Kriezotis
    • Kyprianos of Cyprus
    • Georgios L*anis
    • Lykourgos Logothetis
    • Andreas Londos
    • Yannis Makriyannis
    • Manto Mavrogenous
    • Alexandros Mavrokordatos
    • Petrobey Mavromichalis
    • Andreas Metaxas
    • Andreas Miaoulis
    • Theodoros Negris
    • Nikitaras
    • Antonis Oikonomou
    • Ioannis Orlandos
    • Papaflessas
    • Dimitrios Papanikolis
    • Emmanouel Pappas
    • Christoforos Perraivos
    • Nikolaos Petimezas
    • Vasileios Petimezas
    • Panagiotis Rodios
    • Georgios Sachtouris
    • Georgios Sisinis
    • Iakovos Tombazis
    • Anastasios Tsamados
    • Meletis Vasileiou
    • Demetrios Ypsilantis
    Philhellenes
    • António Figueira d'Almeida
    • Michail Komninos Afentoulief
    • Joseph Balestra
    • Lord Byron
    • François-René de Chateaubriand
    • Richard Church
    • Giuseppe Chiappe
    • Lord Cochrane
    • Vincenzo Gallina
    • Charles Fabvier
    • Thomas Gordon
    • Frank Abney Hastings
    • Carl von Heideck
    • Vasos Mavrovouniotis
    • Johann Jakob Meyer
      • Ellinika Chronika
    • Karl Normann
    • Maxime Raybaud
    • Giuseppe Rosaroll
    • Santorre di Santa Rosa
    • Friedrich Thiersch
    • Auguste Hilarion Touret
    • German Legion:
    • Serbs
    • Olivier Voutier
    Moldavia and Wallachia
    (Danubian Principalities)
    • Alexander Ypsilantis
    • Sacred Band
    • Nikolaos Ypsilantis
    • Alexandros Kantakouzinos
    • Georgios Kantakouzinos
    • Athanasios Agrafiotis
    • Giorgakis Olympios
    • Yiannis Pharmakis
    • Dimitrie Macedonski
    • Tudor Vladimirescu
    • Konstantinos Xenokratis
    • Anastasios Manakis
    • Stamatios Kleanthis
    Ottoman Empire, Algeria, and Egypt
    • Sultan Mahmud II
    • Hurshid Pasha
    • Nasuhzade Ali Pasha
    • Ismael Gibraltar
    • Omer Vrioni
    • Kara Mehmet
    • Mahmud Dramali Pasha
    • Koca Hüsrev Mehmed Pasha
    • Reşid Mehmed Pasha
    • Yussuf Pasha
    • Ibrahim Pasha
    • Soliman Pasha al-Faransawi
    Britain, France and Russia
    • George Canning
    • Stratford Canning
    • Edward Codrington
    • Henri de Rigny
    • Lodewijk van Heiden
    • Alexander I of Russia
    • Nicholas I of Russia
    Financial aid
    • London Philhellenic Committee
    • Ludwig I of Bavaria
    • Jean-Gabriel Eynard
    • Lazaros Kountouriotis
    • Ioannis Papafis
    • Georgios Stavros
    • Ioannis Varvakis
    • Rothschild & Co
    Morea expeditionHistorians/Memoirists
    • Dimitrios Ainian
    • Fotis Chrysanthopoulos
    • Ioannis Filimon
    • George Finlay
    • Ambrosios Frantzis
    • Konstantinos Metaxas
    • Panoutsos Notaras
    • Panagiotis Papatsonis
    • Anastasios Polyzoidis
    • Georgios Tertsetis
    • Spyridon Trikoupis
    Art
    • Eugène Delacroix
    • Louis Dupré
    • Peter von Hess
    • Victor Hugo
    • François Pouqueville
    • Alexander Pushkin
    • Karl Krazeisen
    • Andreas Kalvos
    • Dionysios Solomos
    • Theodoros Vryzakis
    • Hellas
    • The Reception of Lord Byron at Missolonghi
    • Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi
    • Le siège de Corinthe
    • The M*acre at Chios
    • The Free Besieged
    • Hymn to Liberty
    • The Archipelago on Fire
    • Loukis Laras
    • The Apotheosis of Athanasios Diakos
    Remembrance
    • 25 March (Independence Day)
    • Hymn to Liberty
    • Eleftheria i thanatos
    • Pedion tou Areos
    • Propylaea (Munich)
    • Garden of Heroes (Missolonghi)
    • Royal Phalanx
    • Evzones (Presidential Guard)