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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