Celebrating the life of the Greek patriot Laskarina Bouboulina

During the 1821-1830 Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire Greek women fulfilled many crucial roles playing an active and significant part in its success.  As well as their traditional roles as wives, mothers and sisters of the fighting men they also supported the Hellenic effort by transporting goods and ammunition, helping care for the wounded and many other important support roles.  There was even a significant number took up arms as warriors themselves and contributed directly to the fighting on the battlefield. 

Laskarina Bouboulina contributed to the war right from the start, supply the Greek freedom fighters with ships, arms and ammunition and paying towards the upkeep of a small army from her home island of Spetses. 

She was born in a prison in Constantinople on May 11^th, 1771, while her mother, Skevo, was visiting her dying father; Stavrianos Pinotsis.  He had been imprisoned by the Ottomans for his part in the Peloponnesian revolution of 1769-70.  Her father had been a sea captain from the island of Hydra who had fought the Ottoman rule in the unsuccessful, Russian supported,  Orlof Revolution of 1769–1770.   He died in prison soon after the birth of Laskarina.

Despite the loss of the father she had never known Laskarina was to become part of a large family comprising of eight other children.  Her mother returned to live on Hydra with her baby daughter and after four years married the Spetsiot Captain Dimitrios Lazarou-Orlof and the family settled on island of Spetses.

Laskarina must have inherited something from her parents.  She was as strong willed as her mother and as patriotic to the Hellenic cause as her father. Growing up on the island she developed a love of the sea and stories and tales associated with it. 

At the age of 17, she married Dimitris Yannouzas, a Spetsiot sea captain.  He was later killed in a sea fight with Barbary pirates. She married again, at the age of 30, to Dimitris Bouboulis from which her last name is derived. He was also a sea captain and ship owner who had fought, using his own ships, in alliance with the Russian fleet against the Ottomans in the Turko-Russian wars.  He was highly regarded by the Russians who had decorated him for his services, making him an honorary citizen of Russia and giving him the title of Captain in the Russian Navy.  The Russians wanted to weaken the Ottoman Empire which they saw as a threat to their own which is why they supported the Hellenic cause.

Sadly, Dimitris Bouboulis was to die heroically, killed by a shot in the head in fight with two Barbary pirate ships that attacked his trading vessel.  Both pirate ships were sunk. 

After the death of her second husband Laskarina now found herself in the unusual position of being the head person in a trade and shipping business dominated by men.  She had a good head for business and was an intelligent and assertive leader and her shipping trade and from 1811 the business flourished greatly increasing in its trade and value.

In  some quarters she earned the reputation of a pirate queen and although much of the trade she undertook was legitimate, there was probably some that was not, certainly as far as the Ottomans were concerned.   It is also important to remember that she had lost two husbands to pirates and piracy was rife during her day.  It was often necessary to fight to the death to protect legitimate trading vessels, their cargo and crew from pirates.  She built four ships, one of which was the Agamemnon, a warship, paid for from her own fortune.

The Ottomans

Unfortunately the Ottomans had not forgotten, or forgiven her second husband for siding with the Russians and in 1816 attempted to seize Bouboulina’s property.  Sailing to Constantinople she met with the Russian Ambassador Strogonoff in a bid to win Russian protection for the help her husband had given them.  Strogonoff agreed and gave her a safe haven in the Crimea.

During that time it is said she met with Valide-Sultana, mother of the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud ll and persuaded her to request her son not seize her property.  Whatever the truth, Bouboulina returned to Spetses three months later with her fortune still intact, yet with a burning sense of patriotism.

The Filiki Etaireia

She was believed to be a member of the Filiki Etaireia, a secret underground organisation dedicated to freeing the Hellenic people from Turkish rule. She may have been one of the few or only female participants in a male dominated organisation.

Building a navy

She financed the buying of weapons and ammunition which she transported in her ships to be hidden on Spetses waiting for the revolution against the Turks.  In 1820 she also finished the building of her own warship, the Agamemnon, which was one of the largest warships in the rebel force.  With corruption rife among Turkish marine officials she had managed to bribe them into ignoring the size of the ship.

As well as financing the building, manning and running of ships for the Hellenic cause Bouboulina also recruited and financed her own private army of Spetsiots for the impending war.  She now had a powerful naval force and a small but dedicated army at her command that she was not afraid to use.

Raising the flag against the Ottomans

Under her command, her flagship Agamemnon raised a Greek flag on 13th March 1821, giving a cannon fire salute.  The flag design showed and eagle with and anchor at one of its claws, representing the navy, while at the other was a phoenix rising from flames, symbolic of the rebirth of the Greek nation.  This was a similar design to that used by the Emperor Comnenos of Byzantine.  

After the war

With the war finally won the political fighting began as different factions of the Independence leadership struggled for power. Despite her personal and financial support she became a victim of political infighting after the war and was arrested and sent back to Spetses.

Death of Bouboulina

Tragically she was shot dead when one of her sons eloped with a Spetses girl he had fallen in love with.  It is not known who fired the bullet but it is thought to have been by one of the enraged family members of the girl.  It seems that the girl’s family thought Bouboulina was at least partly responsible.

Her legacy

The Russians, who had supported the War of Independence, posthumously, awarded Bouboulina the rank of Admiral of the Imperial Russian Navy.  Many streets in Greece are also named in her honour and on Spetses the BouboulinaMuseum celebrates her memory.  As a tribute her image was placed on the 1988-2001 one drachma coin.

Without her ships the fight against the Turks may not have succeeded and she spent most of her fortune maintaining them and a small army dedicated to the Hellenic cause.  The courage and personal sacrifice of Bouboulina, along with her passion and patriotism and her effective contribution to the success of the war, marks her as one of the Great Greek women of all time.

Women and War: A Historical Encyclopedia from Antiquity to the Present Από τον/την Bernard A. Cook

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