Greek jurist, writer and politician
Pavlos Kalligas
(
Greek
:
Πα?λο? Καλλιγ??
;
Smyrna
, 1814 ?
Athens
, 1896) was a
Greek
jurist, writer and politician, who served as professor at the
University of Athens
, Member and Speaker of the
Hellenic Parliament
, cabinet minister for Foreign Affairs, Education, Finance and Justice and chairman of the
National Bank of Greece
.
Biography
[
edit
]
Kalligas was born in
Smyrna
in the
Ottoman Empire
in 1814, to Panagis Anninos-Kalligas, a wealthy merchant from
Cephalonia
, and Sofia Mavrokordatou from
Chios
.
[1]
[2]
With the outbreak of the
Greek Revolution
in 1821, his father took the family to
Trieste
to avoid anti-Greek massacres. Pavlos Kalligas was sent to the
Flanginian School
in
Venice
and completed high school in the Heyer College in
Geneva
, before returning to Trieste to help in his father's commercial business. After the elder Kalligas' death in 1832, however, Pavlos abandoned commerce and turned to law, studying in the universities of
Munich
, Berlin and
Heidelberg
. In the latter he achieved his doctorate in Law under
Eduard Gans
and
Friedrich Carl von Savigny
.
[1]
[2]
After completing his studies, in 1837 Kalligas came with his mother to the independent
Kingdom of Greece
, first at
Nafplion
and then at
Athens
, where he was elected lecturer of Natural Law at the newly founded
University of Athens
. In 1839 he was named lecturer of International Law and in 1843, he was named professor of Roman Law.
[2]
[3]
In this capacity he became a member of the first Greek Parliament, representing the university professors as provided for by the
Greek Constitution of 1844
.
[2]
His tenure at the university was cut short in June 1845, when he clashed with Prime Minister
Ioannis Kolettis
, and was dismissed from his post.
[2]
[3]
Kalligas then worked for a time as a lawyer, while writing and publishing his five-volume Σ?στημα του Ρωμα?κο? Δικα?ου, καθ’ α εν Ελλ?δι πολιτε?εται ("
System of the Roman Law, as it is practised in Greece
").
[2]
In 1851 he was appointed as Deputy Prosecutor in the
Court of Cassation
, and continued serving as a judge until 1859. In this time he served for two months in 1854 as Justice Minister in the cabinet of
Alexandros Mavrokordatos
.
[2]
[3]
In 1860 he became legal counsel to the
National Bank of Greece
. In the next year, he was re-instated in the university as an extraordinary professor, before being appointed regular professor of Roman Law in 1862.
[2]
Following the ousting of
King Otto
, Kalligas was elected a representative for
Attica
in the
II National Assembly
of 1862?64. In this period he served in the committee preparing the new
Greek Constitution of 1864
, and briefly as
Foreign Minister
in the cabinets of
Dimitrios Voulgaris
,
Benizelos Roufos
and
Zinovios Valvis
. In 1865 he became Minister of Justice as well as Education and Religious Affairs in the
Alexandros Koumoundouros
cabinet.
[2]
[3]
In 1869?70, Kalligas served as rector of the University of Athens, as well as dean of the Law School in 1845, 1872 and 1877, and member of the University Senate in 1866 and 1871.
[2]
In 1879 Kalligas retired from the university, and joined the
New Party
of
Charilaos Trikoupis
, being elected to Parliament for Attica in the
elections of the same year
. Re-elected in 1881, he was named chairman of the Panhellenic Steam Company, and in 1882 he became Finance Minister in Trikoupis' cabinet, a post which he held until his resignation in May 1883, in protest at Trikoupis' authoritarian demeanour towards his ministers.
[2]
[3]
Kalligas was then elected to two consecutive terms as
Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament
, serving from 4 November 1883 until 11 February 1885.
[2]
[3]
In the
1885 elections
he failed to enter Parliament and abandoned his political career, becoming Deputy Chairman and then Chairman of the National Bank, a post he held until his death on 16 September 1896.
[2]
[3]
Works
[
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]
His published work is voluminous: aside from legal treatises, he was an ardent writer of numerous essays and studies on history?among others on the
English Civil War
,
Byzantine
court ceremonial, the
Nika riots
and the
Council of Florence
?and philosophy?from the ancient Greek philosophers to his contemporaries
Theophilos Kairis
and
Petros Brailas Armenis
,
Leopold von Ranke
's
Die Venezianer in Morea: 1685-1715
on the
Venetian rule
in the
Peloponnese
, helped found the
Pandora
literary journal, and wrote a novel,
Thanos Vlekas
(
Θ?νο? Βλ?κα?
).
[1]
[2]
The latter is of particular importance for modern Greek literature, as it is the first
naturalist
work in Greek, trying to depict the dismal realities of the emergent independent Greek state, contrary to the prevailing
romantic
treatment of his contemporaries.
[2]
His legal work, aside from his five-volume
System of the Roman Law
, was particularly notable for his first draft of a
civil code
for the modern Greek state in 1849 (along with Georgios Rallis), although it would take until 1945 for it to be implemented.
[2]
Political views
[
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]
Kalligas was a self-declared "child of the 19th century", and hence proclaimed his belief in
popular sovereignty
. At the same time, he was a critic of the limitations of the parliamentary system of his time, particularly of the corruption and clientelism of the parties, and warned of the dangers of the "
tyranny of the majority
".
[2]
As Finance Minister, he proposed an austere economic policy, limiting foreign lending and advocating increased taxation, among other measures imposing a tax on alcoholic drinks. His policy was opposed by the middle class and the merchant and industrial interests, which contributed to his resignation in May 1893.
[2]
References
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