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Hermes o Logios
Template:Polytonic

Issue of 1817
Editor	Anthimos Gazis, Theoklitos Farmakidis, Konstantinos Kokkinakis
Categories	Science, Politics, History
First issue	1811
Final issue	1821
Language	Greek

Hermes o Logios, also known as Logios Ermis (Template:Lang-el, "Hermes the Scholar") was a Greek periodical printed in Vienna, Austria, from 1811 to 1821. It is regarded as the most significant periodical of the period prior to the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence, containing contributions by key scholars and intellectuals. Hermes o Logios aimed at creating intellectual contacts between the Greek communities of the Ottoman Empire and the Greek Diaspora in Western Europe, as well as the preparing national awakening of the Greek people. It stopped its issue at the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence.

Background

During the 18th century the ideals of the Western European Enlightenment and the French Revolution became widely known to the Greek scholars. They soon realized the potential of these new ideals, and especially of popular freedom and sovereignty for their own national struggle against Ottoman rule. Adamantios Korais, a humanist scholar and leading figure of the Greek Enlightenment, had stressed the desirability of a printed medium, written in the vernacular Greek language, in order to spread these ideas to the Greek people, that lived in the Ottoman Empire and the Diaspora in Western Europe as well. Korais explained about the necessity of a periodical that will gather material from political and philological newspapers of the enlightened peoples of Europe and from reports from Ottoman ruled Greece. He also stressed that this should be edited by a man of learning and proposed that his friend Anthimos Gazis, scholar and Orthodox priest in Vienna, should be the most suitable person for this initiative.

History

Establishment (1811–1813)

Hermes o Logios was established with the support of the Philological Society in Bucharest,an organization consisting of Greek intellectuals headed by the local Greek Orthodox Bishop, Ignatios. The Society’s goals, as published in the first issue of the periodical, were "the awakening to the progress of learning" and "the cultivation of the newer Greek language". Apart from Hermes o Logios, the Society supervised also a Greek-language school, financed translations of schoolbooks into modern Greek and provided scholarships for students to study abroad. Ignatios has already stated the need for a philological newspaper, in which each man of learning could publish his ideas, adding that "This is what the wise man Korais advises us to do and he has wisely chosen a worthy man, archimandrite Anthimos Gazis". The members of the Society then all agreed to cover part of the printing expenses.

The first issue of Hermes o Logios was published on January 1, 1811, under the full title Template:Polytonic (Hermes the Scholar, or Philological Reports). In respect to the Greek language question, it becomes obvious that from the very beginning Hermes o Logios adhered to Korais’ views. In the first three years of its existence (1811–1813), Hermes o Logios appeared twice a month and each issue usually consisted of 16 pages. In April 1813, Anthimos Gazis left Vienna and the editorship of the periodical was taken over by Theoklitos Farmakidis, another priest and an even more fanatical supporter of Korais.

Crisis and revival (1814–1820)

Hermes o Logios had serious financial problems. When the Russo-Turkish War of 1806–1812 ended, Ignatios was forced to resign and leave Bucharest and its main sponsor, the Philological Society, ceased to exist. In an announcement published as an appendix to the issues of 1813 (dated April 1, 1813), Alexandros Vasileiou, a supporter of Korais and influential personality within the Greek community of Vienna, states this fact, as well as that the periodical had too few subscribers. He therefore called on all readers to canvass for new subscribers; moreover he called upon all scholars to send in their contributions.

During the period 1814–1815, Hermes o Logios reached an absolute low, with seven issues in 1814 and only one in 1815. In the following years however the periodical was subsidized by the princes of Moldavia, Scarlat Callimachi and Michael Soutzos. Apart from the difficulties faced, 1816 was a turning point, as two scholars and adherents of Korais, Theoklitos Farmakidis and Konstantinos Kokkinakis, were placed in charge. Consequently, Hermes o Logios became actually an outlet for Korais and continued to appear without interruption until the Greek War of Independence.

Outbreak of the Greek War of Independence (1821)

In 1821, the year that the War of Independence broke out, nine issues appeared between January and May. There is a special appendix to the issue of 1 April 1821, containing a Greek translation of an article dated March 29th, taken from the Wiener Zeitung, which reports on the uprising of Alexandros Ypsilantis and Vladimirescu in the Danubian Principalities and also states the official Austrian standpoint. In the last issue, 1 May, while Ypsilantis’ campaign was in full swing, the Austrian authorities required the editors to publish the excommunication issued by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, Gregory V, against the architects of this uprising.

Contents

Hermes o Logios is regarded as the most important Greek periodical of the Diafotismos era. It appeared regularly over a period of ten and a half years and was the longest-running periodical prior to the outbreak of the Revolution. All volumes cover a total of 5131 pages, with texts on various subjects written by 918 contributors.

Its primary goal was to inform the Greek-speaking public within the Ottoman Empire and in the diaspora. Moreover, in favouring the views of Adamantios Korais it reflected the style of other European periodicals of that era. It reviewed developments in arts and sciences and was an important channel for bringing contemporary intellectual movements to the attention of the Ottoman-ruled Greeks. Additionally, it reproduced catalogues of European scientific books, and exhorted Greek scholars to translate and publish them, like those of Louis Jacques Thénard. The journal also published comments on astronomical observations, experiments and various articles on natural philosophy, which alternated with articles on history and philosophy. Greek scholars used as sources German or French educational books on physics, or translated and published texts on natural philosophy with large circulations in Europe, like the works of Antoine Fourcroy, René Just Haüy, and Jérôme Lalande.

References

1. ^ Janssen: p. 5
2. "History Research Institutes in Southeast Europe A Handbook" (PDF). Center for the Study of Balkan Societies and Cultures. Department for Southeast European History, University of Graz, 2004. p. 51. Retrieved 2010-05-10.
3. Pappas, Karas: p.4
4. ^ García, Margarita Díaz-Andreu (2007). A world history of nineteenth-century archaeology: nationalism, colonialism, and the past. Oxford University Press. p. 84. ISBN 9780199217175.
5. Institut français d'études anatoliennes d'Istanbul (2003). Médecins et ingénieurs ottomans à l'âge des nationalismes. Maisonneuve & Larose. p. 226, 231. ISBN 9792706817624.
6. ^ Janssen: p. 1
7. Janssen: p. 2
8. ^ Janssen: p. 3
9. ^ Janssen: p. 4
10. Mackridge, Peter (2009). Language and National Identity in Greece, 1766-1976. Oxford University Press. p. 124. ISBN 9780199214426.
11. Dēmaras, Kōnstantinos (1972). A history of modern Greek literature. SUNY Press. p. 199. ISBN 9780873950718.
12. ^ Greece: Books and Writers (PDF). National Book Centre of Greece - Ministry of Culture. 2003. p. 63. ISBN 960-7894-29-4.
13. Pappas, Karas: p. 7
14. Pappas, Karas: p. 8

Sources

• Janssen Marjolijne. "The Greek pre-revolutionary discourse as reflected in the periodical Ερμής ο Λόγιος (1811-1821)" (PDF). Cultural nationalism in the Balkans during the nineteenth century. Retrieved 2010-05-10.
• Pappas Vasilis, Karas Ioannis (1987). "The printed book of physics: The dissemination of scientific thought in Greece 1750-1821 before the Greek revolution, The National Hellenic Research Foundation," (PDF). Annals of Science. 3 (44): 237–244. doi:10.1080/00033798700200201. Retrieved 2010-05-10. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |laydate=, |quotes=, |laysource=, |laysummary=, |coauthors=, and |month= (help)

• Greek-language magazines
• Literary journals
• Greek Enlightenment
• Publications established in 1811
• Publications disestablished in 1821