Page 422 - Beholding Liberty!

ΙΙΙ.8
The heroines
Laskarina Bouboulina (1771-1825)
FROM THE MOST SIGNIFICANT FEMALE FIGURES
of the Revolution, Bouboulina was born in the prisons of Is- tanbul during her mother’s visit to her sick prisoner father, imprisoned for his involvement in the Orlofs (1770). After her mother’s second wedding with Dimitris Lazarou-Orlof, Laskar- ina had 8 half siblings.
Herself, got married twice, the second one with the rich Spet- sian shipowner D. Boubouli, from whom she got her surname. After his death in 1811, she increased his fortune and crafted the ship “Agamemnon” equipping it with 18 fireguns. Addition- ally, she crafted three smaller ships, while she was secretly supplied with guns and ammunition. Specifically, when there was an accusation against her to the High Gate for the con- struction of the war ships, she managed to escape punishment by bribing the Turkish inspector.
Bouboulina in almost two years allocated her fortune to the Battle, thus maintaining the Greek fleet. She participated in the siege of Nafplio and was one of the first that entered Trip- olitsa in September of 1821.
After the Nafplio Fall in December of 1822, she settled in the city, marrying her daughter with the garrison commander of the city Panos Kolokotronis, son of Theodoros. During the civil wars, she supported Theodoros Kolokotronis, demanding his release from the prison, and as a result she was considered dangerous and got arrested twice by the Police Ministry, with an order for imprisonment. Finally, she was exiled to Spetses, losing the land that the government had given her in Nafplio. She was killed in her paternal house, during a family clash, the moment she had decided to return to the Battle, with the goal of fighting back Ibrahim.
422 BEHOLDING LIBERTY!
ΙΙΙ.8.1
Peter Heinrich Lambert von Hess (1792-1871) Bouboulina in the blockade of Nafplio, 1852
lithograph, 62 x 45 cm
singed: P Herivegen inv. et sculpsit (under decorative border, centre) / Gemalt v. Peter Hess(bottom left) / Lithogr. v. H. Kohler (bottom right) / Eigenthum u. Verlag v. Meÿ u. Widmaÿer, München. (low centre) inscribed: Η Βοβολίνα / αποκλείει την Ναυπλίαν. (top) / Bobolina / blockading Nauplia. (left) / Bobolina bloquant Nauplie. (right) / Bobolina / blokirt Nauplia. (low)
Hellenic Parliament Art Collection, inv. n. 314
THIS PRINT COMES from a series of works by Peter von Hess [cf. cat. no III.1.17-20].
The famous female ship captain from Spetses, Laskarina Bouboulina, with the two ships she had built and equipped at her own expense, sailed in May 1821 from Spetses to patrol the coast of the Peloponnese.
She is depicted standing on her sailboat, issuing orders to the crew; in the background can be seen Palamidi at Nafplio. Boubou- lina assisted in the blockade of the Argolic Gulf, cutting off the Ottoman troops from supply by sea. Finally, in December 1822, Palamidi was captured by the Greek forces. Bouboulina and her ships decisively contributed to the victory of the Greek fleet in 1822, off Spetses.