A Christian Printer in Selanik under Trial in the City’s Tanzimat Council in the Early 1850s: Kiriakos Darzilovitis and his Seditious Books

Authors : Anna Vakalis

Pages : 23-38

Doi:10.30517/cihannuma.283503

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Publication Date : 2016-02-16

Article Type : Other

Abstract :The present article deals with Kiriakos Darzilovitis, a Greek-educated Slavophone and the second Christian printer of  Selanik . This article touches on some of the main points in Kiriakos’s biography, with two main stations: first, his trial by the city’s  Tanzimat  council because of the seditious books he was accused of printing; and second, the closure of his bookstore some years later, orchestrated by two Orthodox metropolitans and the local Ottoman authorities. The article follows how an ordinary Ottoman subject was consciously able to create a political niche through different lingual, ethnic identities, citizenships, and even legal jurisdictions. More importantly, Kiriakos’ life story sets an example for the limits of such "navigation.” Indeed, the different governing authorities in the late Ottoman world could punish an individual for not fulfilling the expected commitments of each identity he or she asserted.
Keywords : Osmanlı Tarihi, Selanik, Kiriakos Darzilovitis