Garafilia Mohalbi

Garafilia Mohalbi(y) (Greek: Γαριφαλιά Μιχάλβεη; c. 1817 – March 17, 1830) was a Greek slave who was rescued by an American merchant and sent to live with his family in Boston, Massachusetts. Born to a prominent family on the island of Psara, her parents were killed in 1824 during the Destruction of Psara by the Turks. She arrived in Boston around the same period Samuel Gridley Howe brought John Celivergos Zachos and Christophorus Plato Castanis and other Greek refuges. She died aged thirteen. After her death, she became a popular celebrity in the media and among abolitionists.

Garafilia Mohalbi
Born	c. 1817 Psara, Greece
Died	March 17, 1830(1830-03-17) (aged 12–13) Boston
Resting place	Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts

History

Garafilia Mohalbi was born to a prominent Greek family on the island of Psara. Her parents were killed in 1824 during the Destruction of Psara by the Turks. Mohalbi and her sisters were kidnapped and sold into slavery. At the age of ten, she was working as a slave to a Turkish family in Smyrna.

At a bazaar in Smyrna, she met American merchant Mr. Langdon and begged him to rescue her from bondage. He purchased her from the family. He adopted her as his daughter. He arranged for Garafilia to sail to Boston, where she would live with his family. Her sisters were also freed from slavery and sent to live in Europe.^[1] Mohalbi became a student at the Ursuline Convent School in Charleston, a neighborhood in Boston. She died of tuberculosis on March 17, 1830, at the age of thirteen.^[2]

Media and art

After her death, Garafilia Mohalbi became well known in the media in Boston, New England, and eventually the entire world. American painter and miniaturist Ann Hall created a miniature portrait of the Greek slave girl.

The miniature portrait later was produced as a popular engraving by Edward Gallaudet. His second cousin was Elisha Gallaudet, he engraved the first US coin, the 1776 Continental Dollar.^[3][4] The portrait of Garafilia Mohalbi was Ann Hall's most popular artwork.^[5]

In 1831, Lydia Sigourney wrote a poem for The Youth's Keepsake A Christmas and New Year's Present. She had not yet published any books.^[6] In 1835, Sigourney published Zinzendorff, and Other Poems, which featured the same poem, entitled "Garafilia Mohalby".^[7] See Garafilia Mohalby.

In 1843, 19th-century American poet Hannah Flagg Gould was inspired by Ann Hall's miniature portrait, of which she had an engraving. She wrote a poem, "Garafilia's Picture", which was featured in her book The Golden Vase A Gift for the Young.^[8] Sarah Josepha Hale American writer, and Activist best known for Thanksgiving in 1853 featured an article in her book Woman's Record Or, Sketches of All Distinguished Women about Garafilia.^[9]

In the 1850s, Carl Hause commissioned Carl Gartner to compose a mazurka for piano to honor the Greek slave girl Garafilia.^[10] Carl Gartner and Carl Hause had a popular trio in the Boston area; they also taught music.^[11]

Many ships were named after Garafilia, they were located at different ports. Some include Honolulu, Baltimore and Rio de Janeiro.^[12][13] Parents began to name their children after the popular subject, and some people changed their names to Garafilia Mohalbi.^[14]

The popularity of the Greek slave story was circulating throughout the United States. Prominent American sculptor Hiram Powers traveled to Europe to see the slave trade. While in Florence he began to sculpt the popular sculpture The Greek Slave. Many other artists adapted the subject matter which inspired The Slave Market by Jean-Léon Gérôme, The Slave Market by Gustave Boulanger, and The Slave Market by Otto Pilny, in the latter part of the 19th century.

In 1851, Christophoros Plato Kastanes published his book which features a chapter about his experience as a runaway slave from Chios in war-torn Greece.^[15] The book became extremely popular in the United States and multiple editions were published. Harriet Beecher Stowe in The Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin, alludes to using the Greek slave girl Garafilia as inspiration for Uncle Tom's Cabin by writing “I was in Smyrna when our American consul ransomed a beautiful Greek girl in the slave-market. I saw her come aboard the brig ‘Suffolk,’ when she came on board to be sent to America for her education”.^[16]

Other Greek–American slaves include Christophorus Castanis, George Colvocoresses, Joseph Stephanini, and Halet Logotheti.^[17]

See also

• Dance of Zalongo
• The Slave Market at Constantinople^[18]
• Mary Mildred Williams
• James Jakob Williams

References

1. "Mrs. A. S. Colvin's" Mrs. A. S. Colvin's Weekly Messenger Washington D.C. 1827: p. 290
2. Gimber, 1831, Page 9
3. Charles Dexter Allen, American Book-Plates, Boston: Macmillian and Co. 1894: p. 82
4. Staff Writers (2012). "Coinage under the Articles of Confederation". Princeton University. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
5. "Thomas William Herringshaw" Herringshaw's National Library of American Biography Volume III, American Publishers Association, 1914: p. 17
6. Gimber, 1831, Page 13
7. Lydia Howard Sigourney, Zinzendorff and Other Poems, Routeledge, 1835: p. 212
8. Hannah Flagg Gould, The Golden Vase A Gift for the Young, Boston: Benjamin B. Mussey, Wm A. Hall & Co Printers, 12 Water Street: p. 214
9. "Sarah Josepha Buell Hale " Woman's Record Or, Sketches of All Distinguished Women, from "the Beginning" Till A.D. 1850 Harper Brothers New York 1853: p. 431
10. Carl Gartner, Garafilia, Nathan Richardson at the Musical Exchange 1855: p. 1
11. "The German Trio Carl Gartner, Carl Hause, H Jungnickle". Dwight;s Journal of Music, A paper of Art and Literature. Boston. Library of Congress. May 19, 1855. p. 55. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
12. "William De Witt Alexander" A Brief History of the Hawaiian People, New York: American Book Company, 1891: p. 217
13. "U.S. Government" United States Congressional Serial Set Volume 543 US Congress 1849: p. 147
14. "John Adams Vinton" The Vinton Memorial, Comprising a Genealogy of the Descendants of John Vinton of Lynn, 1648 S.K. Whipple and Company 1858: p. 287
15. Kastanes, 1851, Page 92
16. "Harriet Beecher Stowe" A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin: Presenting the Original Facts' Samson Low Son & Co London 1853: p. 377
17. "The Little Greek Boy" (PDF). American Traveller Vol. 3 No. 55. Digital Academic Archive. January 8, 1828. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
18. "The Slave Market at Constantinople" (PDF). Vermont Gazette Volume 20 No 39 September 8, 1829 Page 1. Genealogy Bank. September 8, 1829. Retrieved January 13, 2021.

Bibliography

• Gimber, Stephen Henry (1831). The Youth's Keepsake A Christmas and New Year's Present. A. Leavitt, publisher 1831.

• Kastanes, Christophoros P. (1851). The Greek Exile, Or, a Narrative of the Captivity and Escape of Christophorus Plato Castanis. Lippincott, Grambo, & Company.

• "The Slave Market at Constantinople" (PDF). Vermont Gazette Volume 20 No 39 September 8, 1829 Page 1. Genealogy Bank. September 8, 1829. Retrieved January 13, 2021.