1. Birth – Family

The scholar and teacher from Epirus, Georgios Gennadios was born in 1786 in Silyvria in Thrace. His parents, the priest Anastasios and his wife Sosanna, had found refuge there because of the pressure exercised on the Christians by the Ottoman occupiers of Doliana in Epirus. After the birth of her son and the death of her husband, Sosanna returned to Epirus where Gennadios received his early education.¹

2. Education – Upbringing

In 1797, at the age of eleven, Gennadios was sent to his uncle, abbot at a monastery in Bucharest and studied with the famous teacher and scholar Lambros Fotiadis (1752-1805). In 1804 he began studies in literature at the University of Leipzig under Ernest Weber and, after completing his studies in 1814, he returned to Bucharest.²

3. Activity

In 1815 Neophytos Doukas (1760-1845), principle of Bucharest’s Authentic School, invited Gennadios to become his assistant. While there, he met Christodoulos Klonaris and Ioannis Makris with whom he became friends. With the latter, he departed for Odessa in 1817, following an invitation by the Greek Diaspora community and Ioannis Kapodistrias for the organization of the Greek Commercial School.³

During the three years he remained in Odessa, he worked hard “to promote the diligence of his students and for the introduction of a basic and systematic education system”.⁴ He translated from the Italian the work of F. Soave On the Duties of Man (Peri chreon tou Anthropou) and collaborated with Georgios Lassanis on the writing of the six volume work Basic Encyclopedia of Children's Lessons (Stoiheiodis Enkyklopaidia ton paidikon mathimaton), used in the school’s second and third classes.⁵

In 1820 Gennadios returned to Bucharest where he was invited, together with Konstantinos Vardalachos and Georgios Kleovoulos, by the prince Alexander Soutsos who appreciated his experience and knowledge, to help reorganize the School of Bucharest. Gennadios must have already been initiated into the Society of Friends (Filiki Etaireia) and thus worked with fervor not only for the education of Greek youths but also for their patriotic awakenening. Characteristic is an account by a student, Alexandros Rizos Rangavis (1809-1892) that mentioned: “…he spoke to us about the fate of Greece, the one time mother of glory and freedom, that was now spread like an forgotten slave until tears welled in his eyes…”.⁶

Many of his students, influenced by his opinions shortly afterwards joined the Sacred Battalion (Ieros Lohos). Gennadios himself did not participate in the Battle of Dragatsani, as during that time he was in Transylvania. After the defeat of the Ieros Lohos’ forces, he fled at first to Odessa and then to Dresden where he worked as a tutor until 1824.

His activities, after his return to Greece, were manifold. Central axis remained the development of a Greek education and teaching system. Despite this, following in the footsteps of his close friend and philhellene Favier, he participated in the failed campaign to Karystos in 1826. Most important however was his contribution to the events in Nafplion (June 1826), when his intervention averted the danger for anarchy and unruliness toward the Authorities by unpaid Souliots and Rumeliots, beleaguered soldiers and abject civilians, to whose needs could not be met by the public fund. The situation was discharged by Gennadios’ speech in Nafplion’s main square in which he encouraged the gathered crowd to offer something from their savings and gave the example first.⁷ He also participated as a representative for Epirus in the council of Troizina. His love for his father-land led him in 1854, the period of the Crimean War, to participate in the short-lived revolutionary movement of the Epirots as head of their revolutionary committee.

Regarding the field of education, since 1824 already the Parliament appointed him teacher to the new established school of Argos,⁸ an endeavor which never came to fruition. However, a few years later the governor of Greece Ioannis Kapodistrias enlisted Gennadios (together with Grigorios Konstantas⁹ and Ioannis Venthylos) to draft the grammar and anthology books for the Greek language lesson books, and teach and organize the Central School on Aigina (1829) and the Orphanage. Gennadios accepted the teaching position at the Central School but also organized and established the Public Library by collecting books and printed material, and also laid the foundation for the establishment of the Numismatic Museum. Both institutions were moved to Athens (1835) together with the Central School which was renamed Gymnasium, with Gennadios as director.

Although his interest was focused on primary education, he also taught general history at the University of Athens. He soon resigned however in order to organize the Rizareios School. He was one of the most fervent supporters of the Educational Society (Filekpaideftiki Etaireia) and worked as a teacher at the Arsakeion. He was also among the founders and served, short term as vice-president of the Athens Archaeological School.¹⁰ Finally, Gennadios contributed to the completion of the reconstruction of the church of the Zoodochos Pigi in Athens.

4. Ideology

Gennadios’ ideological maturity coincided to the mature phase of Greek Enlightenment and he fought to defend its basic principles. His aim was “… to mold a new generation of free Greek citizens” and “the lights of prudent Europe” would shine through education “on the former center of the human race and the arts and sciences [Greece]”.¹¹ K. Th. Dimaras referred to him as a fanatic enemy of the Phanariots¹² and a liberal teacher,¹³ a fact which is confirmed by his general attitude and his proposals for the organization of the Greek education system.

5. Acquaintances

Gennadios collaborated with the German scholars and philhellenes Friedrich W. Thiersch (1784-1860)¹⁴ and Karl Theodor Kind (1799-1868). The position he held at the Rizareios School also brought him into contact with important personalities from the ecclesiastical world, such as Ierotheos, bishop of Thavorio and Neophytos, metropolites of Hungro-Wallachia. He was also personally connected to Theodoros Kolokotronis (1770-1843), Ioannis Gouras (1771-1826), Alexander Soutsos (1803-1868), Neophytos Doukas, Grigorios Konstantas and others, while his pupils went on to become important figures of Greek intellectualism, with Konstantinos Paparrigopoulos (1815-1891)¹⁵ and Alexandros R. Ragavis being characteristic examples.

6. Family

Gennadios married Artemis Benizelou,¹⁶ daughter of Prokopios Benizelos of the eminent Benizelos family of Athens, and together they had 8 children (4 sons and 4 daughters) most of which distinguished themselves in politics, the arts and literature. Anastasios was a politician and professor of literature at the University of Athens, Ioannis was a collector and diplomat, Panagiotis was an agriculturist and Kleoniki was a painter.

7. Works

As mentioned above, together with G. Lasanis he published the Basic Encycopedia of Children’s Lessons (Stoiheiodis Enkyklopaidia ton paidikon mathimaton)(1817). In 1832, based on the grammar of Friedrich W. Thiersch he drafted his own Grammar of the Ancient Greek Language, which in 1838 was used officially as a school course book. He also wrote the books Catechesis or Orthodox Teachings of the Eastern Church (1835) and Synopsis of Holy Historythrough the Books of the Old and New Testament. He translated the books Synopsis of General History (1839), Greek Language or Philology (1849), from German while his archive included other unfinished translations of works which referred mainly to children.¹⁷