Page 416 - Beholding Liberty!

Andreas Miaoulis (1769-1835)
SON OF THE SHIP OWNER AND MERCHANT Dimitrios Vokos, he was born on Hydra (or according to another ver- sion at Phylla of Euboea) and at the age of 11 followed the naval profession. Up until 1816 he occupied himself with na- val-merchant operations, legal, as well as illegal, engaging in clashes with pirate ships, warships and merchant ships. As a matter of fact, the epithet «Miaoulis», which prevailed over his family surname «Vokos», derives from the ship «Miaoul», which Andreas bought from a Turko-Cretan during a trip to Smyrna.
Since January 1822 he was appointed admiral of Hydra and commander of the three-island fleet, participating in a series of naval battles throughout the Struggle, such as Patras (20 February 1822), Spetses (8-13 September 1822), Samos (5 August 1824) and Gerontas (29 August 1824), the latter be- ing biggest naval clash of the Revolution. With his ships he tried to prevent the landing of Ibrahim in the Peloponnese (1825) and reinforce Missolonghi during its second siege, without though achieving it.
In the Kapodistrian period he initially undertook the admin- istration of the naval squadron of the Aegean, while he was appointed member of the First Section of the Senate. Howev- er, he soon resigned from his position, took the side of the an- ti-Kapodistrian party and had a leading role in the occupation of the Naval Base of Poros (14 July 1831).
In the time between the assassination of Kapodistrias and the arrival of Otto he was appointed member of the three-mem- ber delegation that went to Munich to declare the faith of the Greek people to the king.
He died in Athens and was buried in Piraeus, on the coast that since then bears his name («Akti/Coast Miaoulis»).
416 BEHOLDING LIBERTY!
ΙΙΙ.6.4
Peter Heinrich Lambert von Hess (1792-1871) Andreas Miaoulis vanquishes the enemy
fleet near Kos
lithograph, 62 x 45 cm
signed: P Herwegen inv. et sculpsit (under decorative border, centre) / Gemalt v. Peter Hess (bottom left) / Gedr. v. J.B. Kuhn. (bottom right) / Eigenthum u. Verlag v. Kohler et Comp. in München (low centre) inscribed: Ανδρ. Μιαούλης καταναυμαχεί τον / εχθρικόν στόλον
περί τήν Κω. (top) / A. Miaulis / beats the turkish fleet at Kos. (left) / A. Miaulis / bat la flotte turque à Kos. (right) / A. Miaulis schlägt
die türkische / Flotte bei Kos. (bottom)
Hellenic Parliament Art Collection, inv. n. 306
THIS PRINT COMES from a series of works by Peter von Hess [cf. cat. nos. III.1.17-20].
Andreas Miaoulis stands resting on the ship railing, telescope in hand, anxious about the outcome of the naval battle in September 1824, when he was the commander in charge of confronting Ibrahim Pasha’s Egyptian fleet after the subjugation of Crete and Samos. The two enemy fleets engaged in battle off Kos. Thanks to the fireships, the Greek fleet claimed a significant victory.