Ioannis Alex. Meletopoulos (1903-1980) was born in Piraeus, to an upper class family. His father Alexandros was an acclaimed historian and although Ioannis worked as a lawyer for the Supreme Court of Greece, he followed in his father’s footsteps doing historical research himself. He was the organizer and for many years served as a curator at the Athens Historical and Ethnological Museum, housed in the building of the Old Parliament, and was one of the founders of the Hellenic Maritime Museum, while at the time he was Secretary General of the “Historical and Ethnological Society of Greece.

Ioannis Meletopoulos served as Secretary General of the “Historical and Ethnological Society of Greece” from 1967 to 1976 and curator of the National and Historical Museum. He was president of the Educational Council of the Piraeus Public Schools, a Municipal Advisor from 1947 to 1950 and a member of the Brotherhood of the Tzaneio Hospital of Piraeus. He was the founder of the Historical Archive of the Municipality of Piraeus and the Founder and Grand Donor of the Municipal Library of Mykonos, on the square of Agia Kyriaki which he housed in the mansion of Campani in 1735, which was renovated by Meletopoulos. The Mykonos Library contains about 10,000 volumes of books donated by the historian Alexander Meletopoulos and other donors. Ioannis Meletopoulos was one of the founders and was elected the first president of the Monetary Society of Greece. He was proclaimed Honorary President and Grand Benefactor of the Hellenic Museum of Greece, Grand Benefactor of the Historical and Ethnological Society of Greece, Honorary Citizen and Grand. He was an honorary citizen of Mykonos that is why there is, to this day, a street which bears his name. He generously donated to the people of Mykonos a garden full of trees and plants; located to the very centre of Mykonos town this magical garden today, is Cine Manto Mykonos.

Publications:  “The Justice of Ephesus” (1936), “Judicial Board” “Piraeus” (1945), “The First Stage of the City of Piraeus” (1948), “Determination of the Gate of the Piraeus Circle”, “Leading for a Solution” ( 1949), “Antiquities of Piraeus Port” (1949), “Piraeus Antiquities” (1960), “The Guide to the National Historical Museum” (1964), “Pictures of the Struggle, I. Makrigiannis – P. Zografou” (1966 and 1972), “The Navy of the 21st” (1971), “The Second Biggest Explosion in Popular Iconography” (1973), “The Exhibition of Friendly History at the National History Museum” (1964), “Exhibitions-Pr. 1821 fighters’ frescoes at the National History Museum “(1971),” The Friendly Society – “P. Skekeri’s Beginning” (1967), “The Documents of the Otto-era”, “The Constitution of 1844” (1972) (1968), “Personals 1821 fighters of the National Historical Museum “(1976),” Gerasimos Pitsasman “(1976),” The History of Modern Greece in Popular Iconography “(1977),” Prominent Opinions “of Greeks and Foreigners about the Naval Navy” (1977) , “The Battle of Nafpaktos” (1978), “The Early Years of the Ottoman Era in Col. Berger’s Watermarks” (1976), “Popular Pictograms of English history in modern times “(1976),” Album of Greek history “(1976)

He was one of the editors of the old Great Greek Encyclopedia and a contributor to the Helios Encyclopedia.

Donation:

a) In the Municipality of Piraeus: The family archive of him and his family, which became the basis of the Historical Archive of the city. Bronze statue of Themistocles, a Greek carving project that was placed in the space that was formerly the Clock. Bronze statue of “Eleftherios Venizelos”, also a work of Greek carving, which was placed in the garden opposite the Municipal Theater. The bronze bust of Admiral Andreas Myoulis, a work of the old carved Drosios, which was placed on the small square in front of the church of St. Spyridon, where it was once the home of Aquarius Admiral.

b) In the Piraeus Archaeological Museum: Its entire collection of 116 archaeological objects originating mainly from Piraeus.

c) At the Hellenic Maritime Museum: Fighters’ ellipses of 21 models of firearms, metals, documents, etc.

d) In the Municipality of Mykonos: Land for the construction of a reservoir as well as a tree estate in the center of the city, in which there is a wall, to serve as a municipal garden.

e) In the Historical and Ethnological Society of Greece: Statues of Constantine Paleologos, George I and George Karaiskakis, and busts of: Papaflesa, Favierou, Myoulis and Papoula, sculpt the busts of Kriezouvon and Sreefon. Also various relics and accounts of the country’s struggles, documents, books, instruments, statues of Tsakalov. Armatolos, Evzoni and others.

g) Bronze busts of Gregory E, Kapodistrias and others at the Hellenic Museum of War.

Honors: Gold Cross of George I, silver medal of the Academy of Athens, gold medal of the municipality of Mykonos.

Honorary President and great benefactor of the Hellenic Museum of Greece, great benefactor of the Historical and Ethnological Society of Greece, honorary citizen and great benefactor of Mykonos, whose name bears his name.

At 25, she was the educated aristocrat who became a passionate rebel. In war she fought like a man, in love she was betrayed like a woman and even her country deserted her after she used her entire fortune to bankroll the revolution. Manto Mavrogenos, a Greek national, was born in Tieste (today’s Italy) in 1796. She had beauty and an aristocratic lineage. Her father, Nikos Mavrogenos, was an established merchant, from Paros.  Her mother, Zacharati Hadjis Bati came from Mykonos. The family fled Greece after the beheading of her uncle, a dragoman for the Ottoman Empire.

 

She was educated and influenced by the western teachings of enlightenment; she was fluent in Italian, French and Turkish. The family returned to Paros in 1809 and became actively involved in the insurrection through the “Filiki Etairia.”  At the outbreak of the revolution in 1821, Manto went to Mykonos. She outfitted two of her own ships and financed another 4 Mykonian vessels.  Her fleet was the naval force of the Aegean warding off pirates and plunder.  With a handful of men, she staved off an invasion from more than 200 Turks on the island.  She financed an infantry of more than 800 men and personally joined the battle on the mainland in 1823. As the “Cause” fought on, she met Dimitri Ypsilanti, a main strategist and political force for the revolution. Eventually they shared not only their passion for the liberation of Greece but for each other as well. 

 

They did not hide their relationship and when they were in camp during battles she shared Ypsilanti’s tent.  As Greece celebrated victory and independence, Ypsilanti broke off his betrothal to Manto.  Some accounts say that it was his men that actually issued an ultimatum that he be rid of this woman who was not a woman by the yardstick for men of this Anatolian culture. Other accounts say that Coletti, of Nafplio, tied her to Edward Blager, the Englishman who bought the first installment of the Greek debt because he feared the political strength of the union of Manto and Ypsilanti. In any case, she left Nafplio with a handful of personal possessions after her home was burgled and burned. ​

 

Ioannis Kapodistrias awarded her the title of lieutenant-general and she received a small stipend.  She complained that the “benefit” was in the category of a war widow or injured disabled soldier, and it did not even suffice to cover her maid’s salary.  She had been betrayed by Ypsilanti and her nation after all her sacrifice.  She returned to Paros and lived with the last of her remaining relatives.  She wrote her memoirs and lived quietly.  She died penniless in 1840, at the age of 44 from typhoid fever.  She was buried in the churchyard of the infamous Ekatontapyliani, just a few steps from the little house she last lived. 

Eventually, an independent self-governing Greece recognized her tremendous contribution and personal sacrifice that led to the success of the revolution. There are two statues of Manto in Greece; a bust that sits at the south end of the Pedio Tou Aeros in central Athens as well as on her native Mykonos.  She is honored with a full-form statue on the island’s central square, that bears her name and faces the waterfront. Most recently she was depicted on the copper 2 drachma coin issued in 2000.  Several streets and town squares carry her name.  Although she was a member of the “filiki eteria” and used her personal fortune to bring Greece to liberty it is interesting to point out that she would not have been eligible to vote in modern Greece until 1952, when women were granted the right to vote.

Her memory is celebrated in the arts in a 1971 film starring Jenny Karezi, a 12- episode television series that aired in the summer of 1983 staring Katia Danoulaki and most recently in 2011, a staged play in the city of Drama in Northern Greece. In Mykonos, she is affectionately remembered as “Capetanissa” (a female ship’s captain). Carrying her own sword and plunging into the front lines– battle after battle, either on land or at sea, MANTO was a true symbol of freedom.  It is hard to imagine today that anyone, man nor woman, would be such a passionate patriot for their homeland.