Alexander Mavrokordatos (1636–1709)

This article is about the Ottoman dragoman. For the 19th-century Greek statesman, see Alexander Mavrokordatos.

Alexander Mavrocordatos (Greek: Ἀλέξανδρος Μαυροκορδάτος; 1636 – 23 December 1709) was a member of the Greek Mavrocordatos family], a doctor of philosophy and medicine of the University of Bologna, and Dragoman of the Porte to Sultan Mehmed IV in 1673 — notably employed in negotiations with the Habsburg monarchy during the Great Turkish War.^[1]

Illustration from 1854

He was the son of Nikolaos Mavrocordatos and Loxandra Scarlatou.

He studied in Pontifical Greek College of Saint Athanasius, the University of Padua and the University of Bologna, before becoming physician to Grand Vizier Köprülüzade Fazıl Ahmed Pasha. Like his predecessor and mentor, Panagiotis Nikousios, this post served as a stepping-stone to the post of Dragoman of the Porte.^[2]

Mavrocordatos drafted the Treaty of Karlowitz (1699). He became a secretary of state and was created a Reichsgraf of the Holy Roman Empire. His authority, with that of Amcazade Köprülü Hüseyin Pasha and Rami Mehmed Pasha, was supreme at the court of Mustafa II, and he did much to ameliorate the conditions of the Christians in the Ottoman Empire. He preserved the independence of the island of Mykonos which was ruled by its noble families and he made sure to not oppress its Catholic minority. He was disgraced in 1703, but was later recalled to court by Sultan Ahmed III.^[1]

He also wrote several historical, grammatical, and other treatises. In 1689, Alexander Mavrocordatus became a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.^[3] His son, Nicholas Mavrocordatos, succeeded him as Dragoman in 1697 and in Nov 1709 was appointed hospodar of Moldavia.^[1]

References

1.  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Mavrocordato". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 917.
2. Philliou 2011, pp. 8–10.
3. "Mitglieder".

Sources

• Philliou, Christine M. (2011). Biography of an Empire: Governing Ottomans in an Age of Revolution. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-26633-9.
• Vakalopoulos, Apostolos E. (1973). Ιστορία του νέου ελληνισμού, Τόμος Δ′: Τουρκοκρατία 1669–1812 – Η οικονομική άνοδος και ο φωτισμός του γένους (Έκδοση Β′) [History of modern Hellenism, Volume IV: Turkish rule 1669–1812 – Economic upturn and enlightenment of the nation (2nd Edition)] (in Greek). Thessaloniki: Emm. Sfakianakis & Sons. pp. 240–242

External links

Preceded by Panagiotis Nikousios

Grand Dragoman of the Porte 1673–1709

Succeeded by Nicholas Mavrocordatos