About
Rigas (1757-1798), born in Velestino, Thessaly, is a major figure of the modern Greek Enlightenment. Author of the 'Thourios', a battle hymn in Demotic Greek, and of a constitution inspired by the French Jacobin model, he envisioned a multi-ethnic democratic republic in the Balkans. He also published a map of Greece and a scientific compendium. Betrayed and arrested in Trieste, he was strangled by Ottoman authorities in Belgrade in 1798, becoming a precursor of the Greek War of Independence.
* 1757-01-01 — † 1798-06-24
Major works
- Φυσικῆς Ἀπάνθισμα (1790)scientific compendium
- Thourios (1797)revolutionary hymn
- New Political Constitution of the Inhabitants of Rumeli, Asia Minor, the Islands of the Aegean, and the Principalities of Moldavia and Walla (1797)constitution
- Charta of Greece (1797)engraved map
Key milestones
- 1797Prints in Vienna the 'New Political Constitution' and the 'Charta of Greece'.
- 1797Arrested by Austrian police in Trieste in December.
- 1798Executed by strangulation in Belgrade on June 24 (Gregorian calendar).
Themes
Greek EnlightenmentRevolution and independenceDemocracy and human rightsPan-BalkanismEducation and dissemination of know
Sources: nhmuseum.gr · namuseum.gr · onassis.org