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Laskarina Bouboulina (Greek: Λασκαρίνα Μπουμπουλίνα, pronounced [laskaˈrina bubuˈlina]), 11 May 1771 - 22 May 1825) was a Greek[1][2][3][4] naval commander, heroine of the Greek War of Independence in 1821, and posthumously, an Admiral of the Imperial Russian Navy.

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Signature of Laskarina Bouboulina

Early life

Bouboulina was born in a prison in Constantinople; she originated from the Arvanite community of island of Hydra.[5][6][7][8] She was the daughter of Stavrianos Pinotsis, a captain from Hydra island and his wife Skevo. The Ottomans had imprisoned Pinotsis because he had taken part in the failed Orlof Revolution of 1769–1770 against the Ottoman rule. Her father died soon afterwards and the mother and the child returned to Hydra. Four years later, when her mother married Dimitrios Lazarou-Orlof, they moved to the island of Spetses. Bouboulina had eight half-siblings.

She married twice, first to Dimitrios Yiannouzas and later to Dimitrios Bouboulis, a wealthy shipowner and captain, taking his surname. Bouboulis was killed in a battle against Algerian pirates in 1811. Bouboulina took over his fortune and trading business and had four more ships built, including the large warship Agamemmnon, at her own expense.

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In 1816, the Ottomans tried to confiscate Bouboulina's property because her second husband had fought for the Russians against the Turks in the Turko-Russian wars. Bouboulina sailed to Constantinople to meet Russian ambassador Count Pavel Strogonov to seek his protection. In recognition of Bouboulis's service to the Russians, Strogonov sent her to safety in Crimea. Bouboulina also met with the mother of Mahmud II, after which Mahmuud's mother reportedly convinced her son to leave Bouboulina's property alone. After three months of exile in the Crimea, Bouboulina returned to Spetses.
Support of the independence movement

Bouboulina allegedly joined the Filiki Etaireia, an underground organization that was preparing Greece for revolution against the Ottoman rule, as one of the few female members ; however, there is no mention of her in the historical members lists.[9] She bought arms and ammunitions at her own expense and brought them secretly to Spetses in her ships, to fight "for the sake of my nation." Construction of the ship Agamemnon was finished in 1820. It was later one of the largest warships in the hands of Greek rebels. Bouboulina bribed Turkish officials to ignore the ship's size. She also organized her own armed troops, composed of men from Spetses. She used most of her fortune to provide food and ammunition for the sailors and soldiers under her command.

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Laskarina Bouboulina, Adam de Friedel painting, 1827

On 13 March 1821 Bouboulina raised her own Greek flag, based on the flag of the Comnenus dynasty of Byzantine emperors, on the mast of Agamemnon. On 3 April the people of Spetses revolted and later joined forces with a number of other ships from other Greek islands. Bouboulina sailed with eight ships to Nafplion and began a naval blockade. Later she took part in the naval blockade and capture of Monemvasia and Pylos . Bouboulina's son, Yiannis Yiannouzas, died in May 1821 in the battle at Argos, against superior numbers of Ottoman troops.

She arrived in time to witness the fall of Tripolis on 11 September 1821 and met general Theodoros Kolokotronis. Later their children Eleni Bouboulina and Panos Kolokotronis were married. During the ensuing defeat of the Ottoman garrison, Bouboulina saved most of the female members of the sultan's household.

Laskarina Bouboulina bust in Pedio tou Areos, Athens

After independence

When the opposing factions erupted into a civil war in 1824, the Greek government arrested Bouboulina because of her family connection to now-imprisoned Kolokotronis; the government also killed her son-in-law. She was eventually exiled back to Spetses. She had used all of her fortune for the war of independence.

Laskarina Bouboulina

Death in feud

Laskarina Bouboulina was killed in 1825 as the result of a family feud in Spetses. The daughter of a Koutsis family had eloped with Bouboulina's son, Georgios Yiannouzas. The father of the girl, Christodoulos Koutsis, and armed members of his family went to Bouboulina's house seeking her. Infuriated, Bouboulina showed up in the balcony of her house to confront them. After her argument with Christodoulos Koutsis, someone shot at her, the bullet striking her in the forehead. She died instantly. The killer was not identified.

Legacy

Bouboulina was posthumously awarded the rank of Admiral by the Russian Navy, a singularly rare achievement for a 19th century woman. Her descendants sold the ship Agamemnon to the Greek state. It was renamed Spetsai. It was burned along with the frigate Hellas and the corvette Hydra in the naval base of Poros by Andreas Miaoulis during the next Greek civil war in 1831.

On the island of Spetses there is the "Bouboulina Museum", housed in the 300 year-old mansion of Bouboulina's second husband, where her descendants still live. A statue of Bouboulina stands in the harbor in Spetses. Various streets all over Greece and Cyprus are named in her honor, notably Bouboulina Street near the National Technical University of Athens (the Polytechnion) and the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, in central Athens, and also in Piraeus and in Nicosia.

Laskarina Bouboulina in Spetses.

Laskarina Bouboulina Museum

Bouboulina was depicted on the reverse of the Greek 1 drachma coin of 1988-2001.[10]

References

^ Jennifer S. Uglow,Maggy Hendry. The Northeastern dictionary of women's biography. UPNE, 1999 ISBN 9781555534219, p. 81: "Greek freedom fighter."
^ Kirstin Olsen. Chronology of women's history. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1994 ISBN 9780313288036, p. 110.
^ David E. Jones. Women warriors: a history. Brassey's, 2000 ISBN 9781574882063, p. 131: "the Greek woman warrior tradition continued into the 18th century with Laskarina Bouboulina. Born in 1783, she developed into a Greek naval commander"
^ Bernard A. Cook. Women and war: a historical encyclopedia from antiquity to the present, Vol. 1. ABC-CLIO, 2006 ISBN 9781851097708, p. 225: "...of the 1,500 Greek combatants in the crucial battle 1,000 were women. Nevertheless, Laskarina Bouboulina and Manto Mavrogenous, the most famous women fighters of the Greek Revolution were not from mountain villages but islands."
^ Telos. By State University of New York at Buffalo. Graduate Philosophy Association. Published by Teresa & Patrick Nielsen Hayden, 1989. Item notes: nos. 78-81. Original from the University of California. Digitized Jul 13, 2007
^ Eurydice Street: a place in Athens. By Sofka Zinovieff. Edition: illustrated. Published by Granta Books, 2004. Original from the University of Michigan. Digitized Jun 24, 2008. 276 pages
^ Byzantine and modern Greek studies. By IngentaConnect (Online service). Published by B. Blackwell., 1985. Item notes: v. 9-11. Original from the University of Michigan. Digitized Jun 24, 2008
^ Zinovieff, Sofka (2004). Eurydice Street: a place in Athens. Granta Books. p. 190.
^ Helen Angelomatis-Tsougarakis, Women in the Greek War of Independence p 59, in Networks of power in modern Greece, Columbia University Press, 2008
^ Bank of Greece. Drachma Banknotes & Coins: 1 drachma. – Retrieved on 27 March 2009.

vte

Greek War of Independence (1821–1829)
Background
Ottoman Greece
People

Armatoloi Proestoi Klephts Dionysius the Philosopher Daskalogiannis Panagiotis Benakis Konstantinos Kolokotronis Lambros Katsonis Cosmas of Aetolia Ali Pasha Maniots Phanariots Souliotes Gregory V of Constantinople

Events

Orlov Revolt Souliote War (1803)

Greek Enlightenment
People

Athanasios Christopoulos Theoklitos Farmakidis Rigas Feraios Anthimos Gazis Theophilos Kairis Adamantios Korais Eugenios Voulgaris

Organizations

Ellinoglosso Xenodocheio Filiki Eteria
Nikolaos Skoufas Athanasios Tsakalov Emmanuil Xanthos Panagiotis Anagnostopoulos Philomuse Society Society of the Phoenix

Publications

Adelphiki Didaskalia Asma Polemistirion Hellenic Nomarchy Pamphlet of Rigas Feraios Salpisma Polemistirion Thourios or Patriotic hymn

European intervention and
Greek involvement in
the Napoleonic Wars

Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca Greek Plan of Catherine the Great Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792) French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars
Fall of the Republic of Venice Republican French rule in the Ionian Islands Septinsular Republic Greek Legion Imperial French rule in the Ionian Islands Albanian Regiment Adriatic campaign of 1807–1814 1st Regiment Greek Light Infantry United States of the Ionian Islands

Ideas

Nationalism Eastern Orthodox Christianity Liberalism Constitutionalism

Events
Sieges

Patras Salona Navarino Livadeia 1st Acropolis Tripolitsa Arta Acrocorinth Nauplia 1st Messolonghi 2nd Messolonghi 3rd Messolonghi 2nd Acropolis

Battles

Kalamata Wallachian uprising Alamana Gravia Valtetsi Doliana Lalas Vasilika Dragashani Sculeni Vasilika Trench Peta Dervenakia Karpenisi Greek civil wars Sphacteria Maniaki Lerna Mills Mani Distomo Arachova Kamatero Phaleron Chios expedition Martino Koronisia Petra

Massacres

Constantinople Thessaloniki Navarino Tripolitsa Naousa Samothrace Chios Psara Kasos

Naval conflicts

Eresos Chios Nauplia Samos Andros Sphacteria Gerontas Souda Alexandria Volos Itea Navarino

Ships

Greek sloop Karteria Greek brig Aris

Greek regional councils and statutes

Messenian Senate Directorate of Achaea Peloponnesian Senate Senate of Western Continental Greece Areopagus of Eastern Continental Greece Provisional Regime of Crete Military-Political System of Samos

Greek national assemblies

First (Epidaurus) (Executive of 1822) Second (Astros) Third (Troezen) Fourth (Argos) Fifth (Nafplion)

International Conferences,
Treaties and Protocols

Congress of Laibach Congress of Verona Protocol of St. Petersburg (1826) Treaty of London Conference of Poros London Protocol of 1828 London Protocol of 1829 Treaty of Adrianople London Protocol of 1830 London Conference Treaty of Constantinople

Greek expedition to Syria (1825) Russo-Turkish War (1828-29)

Personalities
Greece

Chian Committee Odysseas Androutsos Anagnostaras Markos Botsaris Laskarina Bouboulina Constantin Denis Bourbaki Hatzimichalis Dalianis Kanellos Deligiannis Athanasios Diakos Germanos III of Old Patras Dimitrios Kallergis Athanasios Kanakaris Constantine Kanaris Ioannis Kapodistrias Stamatios Kapsas Panagiotis Karatzas Georgios Karaiskakis Nikolaos Kasomoulis Ioannis Kolettis Theodoros Kolokotronis Georgios Kountouriotis Antonios Kriezis Nikolaos Kriezotis Kyprianos of Cyprus Georgios Lassanis Lykourgos Logothetis Andreas Londos Yannis Makriyannis Manto Mavrogenous Alexandros Mavrokordatos Petrobey Mavromichalis Andreas Metaxas Andreas Miaoulis Theodoros Negris Nikitaras Antonis Oikonomou Ioannis Orlandos Papaflessas Dimitrios Papanikolis Emmanouel Pappas Christoforos Perraivos Nikolaos Petimezas Panagiotis Rodios Georgios Sachtouris Georgios Sisinis Iakovos Tombazis Anastasios Tsamados Meletis Vasileiou Demetrios Ypsilantis

Philhellenes

António Figueira d'Almeida Michail Komninos Afentoulief Joseph Balestra Lord Byron François-René de Chateaubriand Richard Church Giuseppe Chiappe Lord Cochrane Vincenzo Gallina Charles Fabvier Thomas Gordon Frank Abney Hastings Carl von Heideck Vasos Mavrovouniotis Johann Jakob Meyer
Ellinika Chronika Karl Normann Maxime Raybaud Giuseppe Rosaroll Santorre di Santa Rosa Friedrich Thiersch Auguste Hilarion Touret German Legion [el] Serbs Olivier Voutier

Moldavia and Wallachia
(Danubian Principalities)

Alexander Ypsilantis Sacred Band Nikolaos Ypsilantis Alexandros Kantakouzinos Georgios Kantakouzinos Athanasios Agrafiotis Giorgakis Olympios Yiannis Pharmakis Dimitrie Macedonski Tudor Vladimirescu Konstantinos Xenokratis Anastasios Manakis Stamatios Kleanthis

Ottoman Empire, Algeria, and Egypt

Sultan Mahmud II Hurshid Pasha Nasuhzade Ali Pasha Ismael Gibraltar Omer Vrioni Kara Mehmet Mahmud Dramali Pasha Koca Hüsrev Mehmed Pasha Reşid Mehmed Pasha Yussuf Pasha Ibrahim Pasha Soliman Pasha al-Faransawi

Britain, France and Russia

George Canning Stratford Canning Edward Codrington Henri de Rigny Lodewijk van Heiden Alexander I of Russia Nicholas I of Russia

Financial aid

London Philhellenic Committee Ludwig I of Bavaria Jean-Gabriel Eynard Lazaros Kountouriotis Ioannis Papafis Georgios Stavros Ioannis Varvakis Rothschild & Co

Morea expedition
Military

Nicolas Joseph Maison Antoine Simon Durrieu Antoine Virgile Schneider Auguste Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angély Camille Alphonse Trézel

Scientific

Jean Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent Léon-Jean-Joseph Dubois Pierre Peytier Stamatis Voulgaris Guillaume-Abel Blouet Gabriel Bibron Prosper Baccuet Eugène Emmanuel Amaury Duval Pierre-Narcisse Guérin Charles Lenormant Edgar Quinet

Historians/Memoirists

Dimitrios Ainian Fotis Chrysanthopoulos Ioannis Filimon George Finlay Ambrosios Frantzis Konstantinos Metaxas Panoutsos Notaras Panagiotis Papatsonis Anastasios Polyzoidis Georgios Tertsetis Spyridon Trikoupis

Art

Eugène Delacroix Louis Dupré Peter von Hess Victor Hugo François Pouqueville Alexander Pushkin Karl Krazeisen Andreas Kalvos Dionysios Solomos Theodoros Vryzakis Hellas The Reception of Lord Byron at Missolonghi Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi Le siège de Corinthe The Massacre at Chios The Free Besieged Hymn to Liberty The Archipelago on Fire Loukis Laras The Apotheosis of Athanasios Diakos

Remembrance

25 March (Independence Day) Hymn to Liberty Eleftheria i thanatos Pedion tou Areos Propylaea (Munich) Garden of Heroes (Missolonghi) Royal Phalanx Evzones (Presidential Guard)

Ancient Greece

Science, Technology , Medicine , Warfare, , Biographies , Life , Cities/Places/Maps , Arts , Literature , Philosophy ,Olympics, Mythology , History , Images