Gregory Aristarchis

Gregory "Ligor" Aristarchis (Greek: Γρηγόριος Αριστάρχης Grigorios Aristarchis; French: Grégoire Aristarchi, born 1843,[1] died 1914[2]), also known as Aristarchi Bey, was an Ottoman diplomat of Phanariote[3] Greek ethnicity, compiler of a corpus of Ottoman legislation.

In this Ottoman Turkish style name, the given name is Gregory, the title is Bey, and the family name is Aristarchis.

Education and career

Originally a provincial jurist, he became the director of foreign correspondence of Crete beginning in 1861, and then from 1867 the Smyrna (Izmir) directeur politique ("political director") and vice-governor.[1]

He served as Ottoman Minister in Washington from 1873 to 1883 with Alexandros Mavrogenis. The Ottoman government dismissed him from his post. Sinan Kuneralp, author of "Ottoman Diplomatic and Consular Personnel in the United States of America, 1867-1917," argued that his relationship with Midhat Pasha was the "more likely" reason why he was fired, while the official accusation was that Aristarchis misused money from a weapons deal.[3] After 1883 he lived in Paris where he worked as advisor to Alfred Nobel. After the fall of Abdul Hamid II he served as an Ottoman envoy to the Netherlands, where he died.

Works

He compiled Législation ottomane, ou Recueil des lois, règlements, ordonnances, traités, capitulations et autres documents officiels de l´Empire ottoman, one of the first collections of the Ottoman Law in 7 volumes in French language,[4][5] while Demetrius Nicolaides edited them. Aristarchis is named in most volumes, except for 6–7,[1] which, according to Strauss, "seem to have been edited solely by Demetrius Nicolaides".[6] The collection was intended for foreigners living in the empire, including employees of foreign ministries. Strauss described it as the "best-known example of" a collection of Ottoman laws.[1]

Personal life

Strauss wrote that Aristarchis was a "popular figure" in the United States,[1] and Kuneralp wrote that in his youth he "was a dashing young bachelor known for his many feminine conquests."[3] He appeared as the main character in a novel by Henry James.[1]

See also

Works

References
  1. Strauss, Johann (2010). "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire: Translations of the Kanun-ı Esasi and Other Official Texts into Minority Languages". In Herzog, Christoph; Malek Sharif (eds.). The First Ottoman Experiment in Democracy. Wurzburg. pp. 21–51. (info page on book at Martin Luther University) - Cited: p. 27 (PDF p. 29)
  2. "Title: The Greek world under Ottoman and Western domination". French School at Athens Library. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  3. Kuneralp, Sinan. "Ottoman Diplomatic and Consular Personnel in the United States of America, 1867-1917." In: Criss, Nur Bilge, Selçuk Esenbel, Tony Greenwood, and Louis Mazzari (editors). American Turkish Encounters: Politics and Culture, 1830-1989 (EBSCO Ebook Academic Collection). Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 12 July 2011. ISBN 144383260X, 9781443832601. Start: p. 100. CITED: p. 101.
  4. Sinan Kuneralp (2000) Ottoman diplomacy and the controversy over the interpretation of the Article 4 of the Turco-American Treaty of 1830. The Turkish Yearbook, vol. 31, pp.13, 14. Available online in pdf format.
  5. Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 2, Number 154, 21 August 1876 — THE FOREIGN WAR. [ARTICLE]
  6. Strauss, Johann (2010). "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire: Translations of the Kanun-ı Esasi and Other Official Texts into Minority Languages". In Herzog, Christoph; Malek Sharif (eds.). The First Ottoman Experiment in Democracy. Wurzburg. pp. 21–51. (info page on book at Martin Luther University) - Cited: p. 27-28 (PDF p. 29-30)

Further reading
  • Kuneralp, Sinan. "The last of the Phanariotes: Grégoire d'Aristarchi Bey (1843-1914), an Ottoman diplomat and publicist in search of identity". The Greek world under Ottoman and Western domination. Info page
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