Page 415 - Beholding Liberty!

ΙΙΙ.6.3
Karl Krazeisen (1794-1878) Portrait of Iakovos Tombazis, 1828
lithograph, 46.5 × 35 cm
signed: Hanfstaengl ft. (on image, bottom right) Nach der Natur gex. v. Kraxeisen (bottom left) Selb Lith. (bottom right) signature
by I. Tombazis (low centre)
iscribed: G. TOMBASI. (low centre)
Hellenic Parliament Art Collection, inv. n. 896
THIS ENGRAVING IS ONE of the series of portraits by Karl Krazeisen [cat. no III.1.2]. Tombazis sat for a portrait by Krazeisen in 1827 on-board the frigate Hellas, which can be seen in the background to the right. He is depicted in a three-quarter view, facing to the right, in a characteristic costume of the island.
Iakovos Tobazis (Yakoumakis) (1782- 1829)
OFFSPRING OF THE HYDRIAN YAKOUMAKIS family which came from Vourla of Smyrna, from a young age he dealt with shipping and quickly he got his own ships. In 1818 he was initiated in the Society of the Friends (“Filiki Etairia”). With the eruption of the Revolution he allocated his ships and his for- tune to the Battle. By the decision of the Hydrian captains he was appointed chief of the Hydrian fleet and on 28 April 1821 on the battleship “Themistocles” he gave the oath: “I swear to the freedom and to the future revival of the Nation, by the presence of the honourable captains of my country Hydra, to safeguard all that follow”.
He took part in the naval battle of Chios and in the northeast- ern Aegean, to prevent the possibility of the Turkish fleet sail- ing from Dardanelia, while he was in charge of the arsoning operation of the turkish frigate in Eresos by Dimitrios Papani- kolis in May 1821. In the July of the same year he participated in the naval campaign to save Samos and in the autumn in the operations at the west coast of Peloponnese and in the Corinthian Gulf. In the leadership of the Hydrian fleet he was succeeded by Miaoulis, with whom Iakovos Tobazis had family ties, since his daughter was married to Miaoulis’ first born son.
In the politics he took part as a proxy of Hydra at the 1st Na- tional Assembly in Epidaurus (21 December 1821 - 16 January 1822), at the Second National Assembly in Astros (10-30 April 1823) and at the Fourth National Assembly in Argos (11 July - 6 August 1829). Specifically, during the works of the First National Assembly he was appointed by a document of the minister of Interior Grigorios Dikeos Papaflessas “commander in chief and governor of Crete” (2 May 1823). During his short service, he achieved by treaty the relinquishment of the Kiss- amos fortress, while he participated in the victorious battle in the position of Rethymnon “Evliyia” against the troops of Os- man Pasha. Finally, he soon abandoned Crete, unable to impose himself on the local chieftains.
During the Kapodistrian time he held administrative and mil- itary positions, like the “Administration of the Naval Affairs”.
Η ΑΦΥΠΝΙΣΗ ΤΟΥ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ Από την αρχαιολατρία στον Φιλελληνισμό 415