Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes: Why the Russian privateer Lambros Katsonis presented the Ottoman governor of Acre with a ship?
Post date: 29-Mar-2012 17:06:15
Στα Σεμινάρια της Ελληνικής Εταιρείας Οικονομικής Ιστορίας θα μιλήσει τη Δευτέρα
2 Απριλίου 2012, στις 17.30, ο Dr. Mitia Frumin (Lander Institute, Jerusalem
Academic Center) με θέμα:
Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes: Why the Russian privateer Lambros Katsonis
presented the Ottoman governor of Acre with a ship?
In April 1794 a special committee was created by order of Empress Catherine II
in order to deal with various complaints about Lambros Katsonis, who was active
as a Russian privateer in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Russo-Turkish war
of 1787-1791. Besides numerous protests by merchants from different countries
who had lost their ships and cargo, Katsonis was also accused of non-payment of
the prescribed percentage of his prize money to the Russian treasury. In
refuting the allegation of tax evasion, Katsonis provided detailed explanations
regarding seized ships and obtained money. He also pointed out that his
squadron's expenditures had been covered without treasury assistance. One of
the paragraphs of Katsonis's explanation related to a puzzling gesture toward
Ahmed Bey al-Jezaar, the governor of Acre. In 1789, in the middle of the war,
al-Jezaar was presented with 26-gun strong ship, taken previously by the
privateer's squadron. According to Katsonis's explanation, this action was
intended as a gift and, an even more intriguing detail, was made according to
instructions given him by General Ivan Zaborovskiy, special Russian envoy in
the Mediterranean. The reasons for such a questionable donation are unknown,
although some speculation can be made in this regard. Most probably this
episode reveals the secret efforts of the Russian government to save the life
of its agent - Colonel Conrad von Thonus, who arrived in 1788 in Cairo and
tried to persuade Mameluk leaders of Egypt to rebel against the Ottomans. Von
Thonus was imprisoned in Cairo for a year and then executed.
Σχολιάζει η Τζελίνα Χαρλαύτη (Ιόνιο Πανεπιστήμιο)
Τα Σεμινάρια πραγματοποιούνται στην αίθουσα σεμιναρίων του Εθνικού Ιδρύματος
Ερευνών (Βασ. Κωνσταντίνου 48, Αθήνα, ισόγειο, μετρό "Ευαγγελισμός"). Η είσοδος
είναι ελεύθερη.
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