The Greeks, the Governor and the Potatoes
John Kapodistrias had an instinct for how a long-oppressed people might think.
1827
King George IV 1820-1830
John Kapodistrias had an instinct for how a long-oppressed people might think.
1827
King George IV 1820-1830
In 1821, the people of Greece rose up against the Ottoman Empire that had conquered the ailing Roman Empire and its dependent territories in 1453. Life under the Turkish yoke had been hard, and John Kapodistrias, the man chosen by the Greeks in 1827 to lead their newly liberated nation, faced daunting problems of industry and education, but on his first arrival he had a more pressing issue: food.
SIR Walter Raleigh is said to have introduced potatoes to Elizabethan England, and Antoine-Augustin Parmentier is synonymous with their cultivation in 18th century France. In the case of Greece, the credit must go to John Kapodistrias, the country’s first Head of State following the revolution of 1821.*
When he arrived in his temporary capital, Nafplion, in 1828, after a distinguished career in the Russian diplomatic service, he found a country that four centuries of Turkish occupation had left dispirited, bankrupt and hungry.
Following Parmentier’s lead, the new Governor saw potatoes as the answer, and left piles of them for Greek farmers to take away and plant in their empty fields. The farmers, however, suspecting some trick, would not touch them.
So Kapodistrias placed the piles of unwanted potatoes under armed guard.
The farmers now suspected the potatoes were a delicacy reserved for the rich, and began to steal them while the guards pretended not to notice. Soon, not a single one was left.
* See posts tagged Greek War of Independence. The Greeks were aided in their bid for independence by both Russia and the United Kingdom.
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
What do John Kapodistrias, Antoine-Augustin Parmentier and Sir Walter Raleigh have in common?
Making potatoes popular in their respective countries.
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Potatoes were not eaten in Greece. Then the country declared independence in 1821. Greece’s first Governor introduced potatoes.