Ioannis Kapodistrias was the first head of state of Greece. Arguably the most illustrious Greek of his time, he became Governor of the newly-founded independent Greek state after a notable career in international diplomacy. He championed the recognition of Greece’s sovereignty by the Great Powers and worked tirelessly to set the foundations for the nascent republic, although his form of administration prompted controversy among leading figures of the Greek society, culminating in his assassination.

Ioannis Capodistrias was born in 1776 in Corfu, during the period of Venetian Rule. Along with his other eight siblings, he was raised in a strict patriarchal and religious family. The Capodistrias family is one of the oldest families on the island; it is said that its ancestors arrived in Corfu at the end of the 14th century for the city of Capo d’ Istria, which was situated in today’s Slovenia. Although their family name was Vittori, it wasn’t long before their dominant name became the one that indicated their place of origin: Capodistrias.

Ioannis, like many other young noblemen of his time, studied Medicine in Padua, Italy (1794 – 1797); after completing his studies, he returned to his home country, where he practiced medicine. He returned at the time of the end of the Venetian Rule ended and its subsequent replacement by the arrival of the Republican French in the island, who attempted to enforce a drastic change in the island’s social structures. In 1799, after a four-month siege of Corfu by powerful joint Russian and Turkish military forces, the Republican French left Corfu. In 1800 was the Septinsular Republic was founded – the first Modern Greek State formation, under the principal control of the Russians. Ioannis Capodistrias became actively engaged in politics. As Secretary of State on Foreign, Naval, and Trade Affairs of the Septinsular Republic, he worked systematically for the implementation of the Constitution, the education of administrative officers, the building of new schools and the defense of the Republic. However, in 1807 the Septinsular Republic was terminated and the Ionian Islands were ceded to the Imperial French with the Treaty of Tilsit.

In 1808, Czar Alexander I invited Ioannis Capodistrias to Russia, to serve in Russia’s Foreign Ministry. This was not unusual for the time; the Russian Empire was acceptant of capable men of noble origin regardless of ethnicity – men who would be devoted to the Supreme Ruler and would faithfully serve the Empire. During the course of his political career in Russia, Capodistrias rose to become a key figure not only of Russian diplomacy, but also of European diplomacy.

In 1813, he was appointed head of the first Russian diplomatic mission in Switzerland, which would contribute to the formation of the Swiss Federation and the drafting of the new Swiss Constitution. Soon afterwards, in 1814, Capodistrias became a close associate of Alexander I at the Congress of Vienna, assembled to arrange the post-Napoleonic order in Europe. It was in this Congress that Capodistrias gained the reputation as a speaker equal to the great diplomats, such as Metternich, Talleyrand and Castlereagh. In 1815, he was tasked with carrying out, on behalf of Russia, the final peace negotiations with France, and he signed the Treaty of Paris. During the same year, Capodistrias aided Alexander I in his decision to grant a Constitution to the Kingdom of Poland.

In 1816, Capodistrias, as close associate of Alexander I, was appointed joint foreign minister of Russia, along with Karl Nesselrode. He remained in this office until 1822, when he resigned from his post and retired to Switzerland following a disagreement with Alexander I over the Greek affair. In 1827, he officially resigned from Russian service.

GOVERNOR OF GREECE

In the spring of 1827, the rebelled Greeks assembled in Troezen and unanimously elected Ioannis Capodistrias to the office of first Governor of the newly-formed Greek state, for a term of seven years. Greeks have now pinned their hopes on him; Capodistrias was, after all, the most famous Greek in the entirety of Europe.

In 1827, the overall state of Greece was dire. The Ottomans were on the brink of quelling the last remaining hubs of resistance, when the three great European powers – Great Britain, France and Russia, resolved to support Greece through the Treaty of London. The Sultan refused, and in the ensuing naval Battle of Navarino, the Ottoman fleet was defeated, thus opening the way for the founding of the State of Greece and for Capodistrias’s returning to his native soil.

Upon arrival in war-torn Greece, Capodistrias was determined to reform the country on the basis of a very specific plan – and in order to implement this plan, he had to practice a concentration of powers. Initially, he managed to safeguard the cooperation of representatives from all leading groups; thus, he won domestic peace, provided a rudimentary organization of government, operated the mechanism of government with some degree of adequacy, and also provided care for orphans and generally for all his fellow countrymen left with no protection. The country gained security and Capodistrias set the foundations for a stable course. For the Governor, the top priority was to drive the Turkish and Egyptian armies out of the Peloponnese and mainland Greece, and also to ensure the wider possible borders for the long-term survival of the newly-formed State.

In Capodistrias’s view, Greece in 1828 was not yet ready for a constitutional regime. It was more important to liberate the country and gain its international recognition, to define safe borders and to distribute lands to farmers. Capodistrias’s policies prioritized the expansion of basic education through mutual teaching schools, and also the creation of a Central School for the education of future teachers.

Capodistrias engaged himself with all aspects of the country’s administration: military organization, education, social welfare and international diplomacy. He stimulated the economy through the systematic promotion of commerce and agriculture, the establishment of a national mint in Aegina and the issuance of Greek currency, the “phoenix”.

The Governor restored ruined cities, planned and created road connections, shipyards, hospitals and courthouses; he also set up a national printing office, a post service and a museum.

Throughout the course of his governance, Capodistrias made systematic efforts to expand the borders of the state so it could be sustainable, while at the same time, he even went as far as to exploit the disputes between European Powers, and succeeded in achieving an optimum result for the country’s position.

In his effort to create a State modeled on European standards, Capodistrias gained many political rivals. This came as a result of many factors; the new reality brought to the forefront new politics and social powers with opposite interests. Many hopes held by the revolted Greeks were crushed by the bitter reality of a small, poor country forced to take its first steps dependent on the aid of European Powers. Capodistrias' centralized system of governance also displeased those who believed in the power of democratic procedures. Capodistrias also perturbed powerful representatives of local groups who were unwilling to lose the authority and privileges they were enjoying up to that period. The opposition, with the indirect support of agents of English and French politics, gradually increased. Capodistrias reacted aggressively and imprisoned the leader of the Mani faction, Petrobeys Mavromichalis.

Reaction against Capodistrias was made flesh in the members of the Mavromichalis clan. On a Sunday morning on September 27th, 1831, the Governor was assassinated on the steps of the church of Saint Spyridon by the son of Petrobeys Mavromichalis, aided by Petrobeys’s brother. A chapter closed for the new State of Greece.

Ioannis Capodistrias was succeeded by a three-member committee, which included as a member his brother Avgoustinos, who became Governor for a short amount of time.

(Source: Website of the Capodistrias Museum in Corfu)