Page 424 - Beholding Liberty!

Manto Mavrogenous (1796/7-1840)
OFFSPRING OF THE NOBLE MYKONIAN FAMILY
by Phanariot origin, she was born in 1796 or 1797 in Trieste, where her family lived due to the commercial activity of her fa- ther Nikolaou Mavrogenis. The eruption of the Revolution finds her in Tinos, where she settled after the death of her father. From there she went to Mykonos and was put in charge of her fellow rebelled countrymen, allocating her family fortune to the Battle. It is mentioned that in 1822 Manto sold her jew- ellery to equip a ship with 65 men.
According to the information that was given by foreigners, mostly tourists, Mavrogenous took part in the operations against the Turks in Karysto, Pelio and Phfiotida. On 11 Oc- tober 1822 she led the fight of the Mykononian inhabitants in order to prevent the landing of Algerian pirates on the is- land. Also significant was her contribution to the support of the philhellenic movement, through the letters she wrote to the female philhellenic cycles of Europe, to whom her name became legendary.
In 1825, she was living in Nafplio, in a poor house since her family resources had been depleted. Her unrequited love for Dimitrios Ypsilantis, who had promised to marry her but re- called his decision, cracked her psychologically and led her to extreme behaviours, as she submitted to the National Assem- bly of Troezen (1827) a memorandum accusation against Yp- silantis, demanding from the proxies his condemn. The memo- randum was ignored.
She also submitted a report to the governor Ioannis Kapodis- trias, in February 1828, who out of appreciation to her and her contribution awarded her the honorary rank of lieutenant general and a small pension. After the death of Kapodistrias, poverty and her turbulent relations with her family led her to the island of Poros, where she died forgotten by all in 1840.
Manto Mavrogenous, with her education, her rebelliousness and her dynamic character, proved to be one of the most im- portant female figures of the Revolution.
424 BEHOLDING LIBERTY!
ΙΙΙ.8.2
J. Ginouvier
Mavrogénie, ou l’héroine de la Grèce. Nouvelle historique et contemporaine, suivie d’une lettre de l’heroïne
Aux Dames Parisiennes.
A Paris, chez Delaforest, Libraire, Rue
des Filles-Saint-Thomas, No 7, et chez Ponthieu, au Palais-Royal. 1825. Library of the Hellenic Parliament
J.F.T. GINOUVIER’S NOVEL is a vivid account of the life of Manto Mavrogenous; yet it introduces a lot of arbitrary, false facts, misleading historical research. However, the exaggeration of the story about the “heroine of Greece” is largely responsible for creating her myth in European philhellenic circles.
Also included is a letter, translated by the philhellene writer into French, addressed by Mavrogenous to Parisian ladies – a pas- sionate account of the hardships facing the Greeks under the Ottoman yoke, aimed to inspire sympathy for the Greek cause.