TSo, ive nseen a lot of posts going around commemorating badass women lost in the great male history, and i thought i’d make an addition:
So here, the great Laskarina Bouboulina (yah tha’ts kind of her real name i was surprised too) one of the biggest and most important heroes of the the Greek Revolution (started officially in 1821) and one of the 2 known female heroes (there’s more u know it just never mentioned).
She descendedfrom the island of Idra (Hydra-yeah i know it’s not the Marvel hydra) and was born in a prison in Constantinople, when her mother went to visit 70imprisoned father. Both of them had taken part in the Orlofean Revolution of the 1770s. The Russians at the time were on a war with the Turkish and were trying very hardto gain land in the Aegean and some parts of] mainland greece They convinced the already restless greeks to revolt ending in horrible failure and imprisonment of the survivors by the Ottomans.
Growing up she had 8 brothers and she was their accepted leader, having all of their respect and being in charge of decision making.
She married twice, to husbans who were captains in the navy and they both died fighting Algerian Pirates at the seas of the aegean,
They both left her big amounts of fortune, including ships annd land, which she managed to quadruple by investing and by doing successful commercial buisnesses. That fortune was entirely spend to fund the Greek Revolution.
She had already had 6 children by then.
In 1816 the Ottoman Empire wanted to take away the fortune of her second husband with the excuse that he was on the side of the Russians at the Russian-Turkish wars. Once she found out she took her ship named Canakis and sailed to Constantinople to meet with the russian ambassador who was supposed to be a philellenas, and ask him to help her. He would send her to Crimea to remain safe but on her way she visited the Sultan’s palace and met with his mother.
The mother was so impressed by her character and spirit she aksed her son to sign a firmani, official document, saying she wans’t to be hurt and her fortune would remain untouched.
…i’d like toknow more about that story..did she seduce the Sultan’s mother?
Basically she spend a long time at the centre of family fights with relatives on either side of the family, who basically just wanted her money. They were probably behind the trouble with the Ottoman officials earlier.
Once the Revolution broke out she managed to join the ranks (lowest as no women were even allowed there) of the Filiki Eteria (sounds stupid to translate so i’ll leave it at that) which was one of the major grouns that supported the Revolution, bt having connections to European officials who supported the cause (basically they wanted a hand in the ottoman -greek geography )
Anyway by the time the Revolution started she’d already created a whole fleet all by her self with men under her command , whom she called “my brave lads” in rough translation. She ws in charge of manning the ships,caring for them, supplying them and sometimes leading them, all by her self.
The went on the first two years of he revolution, causing all her fortune to be spend there.
Oh by th way she totally managed to circle 2 ottoman bases at two strategical ports Nafplio and Tripolis.
She remained in Nafplio, given land by the new government.
Eventually, during the second Civil War, some of the heroes of the revolution were imprisoned for oposing the current covernment and she stood up for them, as they were heroes of the nation. She was deemed as being dangerous and arrested twice. The second time she was found guilty, by the purgrering of some of the people who wanted her land. She managed to exile them too before she was send to exile herself and her fortune taken away.
She remained in exile in bitterness by the stupidity of the politicians, whom she always cursed.
Eventually though, Ibrahim Pasa from Egypt was send to repress the greek rebels who were gaining ground and she decided she had to re join the fight and help out.
Before she could fully go to war though, it was found out that one of her sons had eloped with the daughter of one very rich and great family of the island she was in. However the family greatly disliked them because they had spend all their money and they considered it a great insult.
The two young people hid in Bouboulina’s first husband’s home, but they were discovered by the girl’s family.
Bouboulina also joined and the families started arguing. It heated up and eventually the father shot her in the head, giving a sad end to the Hero of the Revolution
After her death, the Russians gave her the title of Admiral, in honour of her great contributions.
She was beloved and praised by the greeks later on , he mansion in Spetses is kept as a museum including some of her portraits. Her favoourite portrait, and the one she ordered was this
whcih bring me to my conclusion,
her other famous representation in books and papers is one by a Danish artist named Adam Fridel and is this
A Force Sensitive Phasesixer 