Ioannis Capodistrias (Kapodistrias, Capo d'Istria), 1831, 9 October Assassination: Conspiracy Theories; Ιωάννης Καποδίστριας, Δολοφονία

I have sometimes heard conspiracy theories in Greece about who was really behind the assassination of Ioannis Capodistrias in 1831. For instance, this passage from a 1976 essay "Capodistrias and the English" by Gerasimos Chytiris (Simeioseis enos Kerkyraiou, Athens, 2010), in which he quotes from the memoirs of Monsieur de Ribeaupierre, the Russian diplomat, who appears to have suspected that the hand of a British agent was behind the plot. A diplomatic conspiracy theory (?), wonders Chytiris.

Michael Herzfield, in his book "Portrait of a Greek Imagination: An Ethnographic Biography of Andreas Nenedakis", University of Chicago Press,1997, discusses the "foreign finger" syndrome, and cites Nenedakis as claiming that "foreigners set up the landowners (kotzambasidhes) and killed Capodistrias".

In a footnote, Herzfield comments, "Given the general irritation with Capodistrias within and outside Greece, it is easy to see how one perception might have it that the assassination served certain foreign interests- always a popular exegesis, and one that often has some basis in fact. It was in the aftermath of the assassination that Greece became a monarchy".

A distinguished British historian suggests that the conspiracy theory is a Greek urban myth.

An Epirot friend, who wants to make a documentary film about Capodistrias, believes that the relevant files from the time have never been declassified or made available in the relevant national archives.

This is what he wrote to me some years ago:

"I found this article, a review about a book published recently by Γεώργιος Ι. Σκλαβούνος ,"Ο Άγνωστος Καποδίστριας" εκδόσεις Παπαζήση. Georgios Sklavounos, "The Unknown Capodistrias", Papazissis Editions.

Another book with similar positions:
ΠΟΙΟΙ ΔΟΛΟΦΟΝΗΣΑΝ ΤΟΝ ΚΑΠΟΔΙΣΤΡΙΑ;
ΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΟΣ Ν. ΚΟΚΚΙΝΑΚΗΣ

"I came across various other links speaking about the conspiracy, but they don't seem serious, most of them. What I find worth noting is the information from many sources that the British archives related to Capodistrias' assassination are still now called top secret after more than 170 years".

Another passage about the death of Capodistrias, from a book on Amalia and Otto:

Eleni Koukkou's historical biography of  Ioannis Capodistrias and Roxandra Stourtza, Patakis, 2000

From page 594

How conspiracy theories thrive...a Greek urban myth?

Some British Views:

Richard Clogg, A Concise History of Greece (1st ed., 1992):

"Schooled in the tradition of Russian autocracy he was temperamentally out of sympathy with the elites of Greek society. With attitudes such as these it is not surprising that he made powerful enemies. He met his death at the hands of Georgios and Konstantinos Mavromikhalis, whose powerful clan in the Mani in the southern Peloponnese he had offended".

"(Kapodistrias) ruined Greece because he immediately made it Frankish (western), while to begin with he should have made it three parts Frankish and seven Turkish, later half and half, and afterwards entirely Frankish", Theodoros Kolokotronis, 1836, quoted by Richard Clogg.

From Memoirs of Makriyiannis:

C.M.Woodhouse, The Story of Modern Greece (1968):

"His enemies accused him of being in league with his late master, the Tsar, to subject Greece to Russian suzerainty in place of Turkish...Hostile critics believed that Capodistria wished to be the sovereign himself...Capodistria's manoeuvres were disconcerting to the powers and damaged his own reputation...Two causes, finally, conspired to bring about Capodistria's downfall in 1831. One was the pressure of the constitionalists for liberal reforms, including freedom of the press. The other was an accumulation of personal grievances on the part of those whose claims to power and financial reward could not be satisfied, particularly the family of Mavromikhalis in the Maina and the leading islanders of Ydra...One or other of his many enemeies was certain to make an attempt on his life, but he refused to take special precautions. It is doubtful whether there was a far-reaching plot against him: that he had given mortal offence to the family of Mavromikhalis was sufficient cause for assassination, by the social canons of the Maina".

Wikipedia entry (Greek):

Ιωάννης Καποδίστριας, Δολοφονία
Πέραν των πιεστικότατων οικονομικών, κοινωνικών και διπλωματικών προβλημάτων, ο Καποδίστριας είχε να αντιμετωπίσει δύο σημαντικά εμπόδια στην πολιτική του για την οικοδόμηση του νεοπαγούς ελλαδικού κράτους: πρώτον την εχθρότητα Γαλλίας και Αγγλίας, τα γεωστρατηγικά συμφέροντα των οποίων στην Ανατολική Μεσόγειο κινδύνευαν από την προοπτική δημιουργίας ενός νέου και δυναμικού ναυτικού και εμπορικού κράτους έξω από τον έλεγχό τους, ή χειρότερα, υπό την επιρροή της Ρωσίαςˑ δεύτερον, τους φατριασμούς και τα τοπικιστικά, οικονομικά και πολιτικά συμφέροντα των κοτζαμπάσηδων, Φαναριωτών και πλοιοκτητών, οι οποίοι και επεδίωκαν διατήρηση των προνομίων και συμμετοχή στη νομή της εξουσίας. Εν τέλει ο συνδυασμός των παραπάνω παραγόντων προετοίμασε το έδαφος και οδήγησε στην πολιτική και φυσική εξόντωση του πρώτου Κυβερνήτη της Ελλάδας στις 9 Οκτωβρίου 1831 (27 Σεπτεμβρίου 1831 με το Ιουλιανό ημερολόγιο).

Constantine Tsatsos, former President of the Greek Republic:

"Capodistrias arrived in Greece famous, but also branded, for being the Tsar's man. Some Greeks nourished the suspicions of the French and the English against him...this man is presented to the ignorant as an agent of Imperial Russia".  Preface to "Letter to the Tsar Nicholas I", by John Capodistrias, Doric Publications, 1977.

"The wilder spirits began now to look back into the classic ages for a parallel, and to talk of the virtue of tyrannicide"....On October 8, 1831, "the President had that very morning received a copy of the London 'Courier', containing a violent tirade against his person and a scathing criticism of his policy".

W. Alison Phillips, "The War of Greek Independence, 1821 to 1833", London, 1897.

This book is one of the few in my library which contains a detailed account of events. I haven't had a chance to study C.M.Woodhouse's biography:

C. M. Woodhouse, Capodistria, The Founder of Greek Independence, London, Oxford University Press, 1973. xiv+544 pp