The article is devoted to the study of the history of patronage provided by the Russian Empire to the Greek Orthodox community living in the Tunisian Regency in the XVIII-XIX centuries. Patronage of the Orthodox population of Turkey has traditionally been considered an important task in Russia's eastern policy. One of the reasons that prompted the authorities of the Russian Empire to establish a consulate in Tunis in 1869 was the intention to provide patronage to the local Greek Orthodox community. In the 19th century, according to various sources, from 400 to 1200 Greeks lived in the Tunisian Regency, who were mainly engaged in trade. The Russian consuls in Tunis defended the interests of individual Greeks in case they needed consular representation before civil proceedings, as well as the interests of the community as a whole. Relations between the Greek Orthodox community, the Russian-Dutch Consulate, and the court of the Bey of Tunis remained friendly and respectful throughout the 19th century.

Keywords: Russian Empire, Tunisian Regency, Greek Orthodox community, Russian Consulate in the Ottoman Empire, Russian-Tunisian relations.

The borders of the Ottoman Empire largely repeated the borders of Byzantium in its heyday. Beginning in the 15th century, the Ottoman conquests brought approximately half of the Orthodox world under the sultans ' rule, and Greek migration began, which was caused by economic and demographic factors, along with foreign domination, and an imbalance of natural resources and labor. Within the Ottoman Empire, the cultural and religious community of Orthodox Millet was formed, in which the role of the stanovoi ridge was performed by the Greeks.

The Orthodox world had its own political hierarchy, where Moscow was the main center of power. The adoption of the tsarist title by Russian monarchs, the doctrine of the Third Rome, and the claim to be the heirs of the Byzantine emperors were met with full approval in the Orthodox East. The Russian tsar was seen as the mainstay and guardian of universal Orthodoxy. "There was a conviction that Russia was called upon to solve the so-called Eastern question, that its historical vocation also consisted in making all Orthodox peoples free and independent" [Kapterev, 1914, p. 380]. A. A. Chartoryisky, a friend of the Russian Foreign Minister, wrote in a memo dated February 29, 1804 to Alexander 1:

"Maintaining relations with the Greeks and other subjects of the same faith, of which Russia is considered the natural patron and who will always be devoted primarily to it, as long as they can rely on it, is in the permanent interests of Russia and in a certain sense," he said.

page 110
this is a matter of her honor. This policy has been pursued by all the rulers of Russia, beginning with Peter the Great, and a departure from it would not only lead to disastrous consequences in the sphere of our foreign relations, but would also have a harmful effect inside the country, since we would thereby abandon a course of conduct not only dictated by the interests and dignity of the empire, but also sanctified in a sense, the dominant religion in the country. These inconveniences would reach the highest limit if we allowed some other power to establish its influence on the Greeks instead of us and use this for its own benefit "[Novichev, 1965, p. 197].

In the eighteenth century, three processes took place simultaneously: the strengthening of Russia, which had reached the borders with the Ottoman Empire, the weakening of the Ottoman Empire due to an internal crisis, and the expansion of the Western powers, under whose power the lands lost by the Turks passed. The weakened Ottomans could no longer be the shield of Orthodoxy from Catholic expansion, so the Orthodox East was reoriented to Moscow. Patronage of the Orthodox population of Turkey has traditionally been considered one of the most important tasks in Russia's eastern policy. In the case of Russia's protection of the interests of the Orthodox Greeks in the East, the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish treaty of Kuchuk-Kaynardzhiy in 1774 is considered a milestone event. According to this treaty, the High Porte granted the right to the Russian envoy in Constantinople "to intercede with her in favor of Christians, subjects of the Sultan", and the Porte itself was supposed to provide " firm protection to the Christian law and the churches thereof"[Zhigarev, 1896, p. 56].

As early as 1775, N. V. Repnin's instructions to the Russian Ambassador to the High Port included a clause providing for " accurate observation, so that our co-religionists are not oppressed anywhere because of their religion." By virtue of a series of Russo-Turkish agreements and promises made to Christians, Russia was bound by a system of obligations, on the observance of which its influence and weight in this important region depended. All Christians, both of Slavic and non - Slavic origin, fell under the exclusive protection of Russia. The Orthodox population of the Ottoman Empire reached 12-14 million people by the middle of the 19th century, and this factor, combining elements of both confessional and political nature, turned into the main tool of St. Petersburg's influence on the Sultan's government.

Russian patronage of the Greek population of the Ottoman Empire took various forms: from allowing Greeks to sail on merchant ships under the Russian flag and engage in trade in the ports of the Black Sea to armed struggle for the liberation of co-religionists from the Ottoman yoke. The first national Greek state of Modern times , the Republic of the Seven Islands, and the first Balkan Constitution of 1799 were guaranteed by the armed forces of Russia, which gained access to the Mediterranean. A witness to the events related to the Greek uprising of 1821, the Russian traveler K. Bronnikov, said that the Greeks, meeting with the Russians, said through tears: "If Russia does not help us, then we, the Greeks, are all lost" [Danzig, 1973, p.154]. The traveler P. A. Chikhachev claimed that the true founder of the Greek Kingdom was Russia, which won the war of 1828-1829.

The three regencies - Algeria, Tunis, and Tripoli - were considered by the Russian government as formally belonging to the Ottoman Empire. Since 1803, Russian ambassadors to the High Port received regular reports from the Nissen family of Dutch consuls in Tunis, who, by agreement between the Russian envoy to Constantinople A. Ya. Italinsky and the Dutch envoy to the High Port G. Ratkel, represented the interests of Russian subjects in Tunis. The name of the Nissen family of consuls, which first appeared in diplomatic correspondence in 1780, remained there for the entire pre-revolutionary period of Russian history; six generations of this Dutch family represented Russian interests in Tunis. It wasn't until the mid-1860s, when Russia was beginning to recover from its humiliating defeat in the Crimean War, that the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union began to struggle.

page 111
To strengthen cooperation with European countries, the Foreign Ministry decided to establish a Russian consulate in Tunis. The reasons why Russia chose to have its own diplomatic agent in Tunis were as follows: "to intercede on the affairs of the Greeks living in Tunis, who have long enjoyed Russian patronage, as well as in case of the appearance of Russian courts there" [AVPRI, f. 149, Turkish table (old), on. 502-a, 1867, d. 158, l. 3].

According to the 17th-century sources, the Greek community of Tunis consisted of several hundred immigrants from Thessaly, Macedonia, Crete, Cyprus, and other small islands of the Aegean Sea (Kazdaghli, 2002, p. 449). They were mainly engaged in trade between Tunis and various ports in the eastern Mediterranean, and maintained trading houses. The community enjoyed a privileged position in the regency due to its wealth. The French Consul in Tunis in 1729-1734, B. Saint Gervais, mentions in his reports that "the Greeks have their own church, where services are conducted only in Greek" (Kazdaghli, 2002, p. 450). Due to their significant economic role and high ethno-confessional status, representatives of the Greek community were close to the court of the Beys of Tunis. Converts (renegades) and Mamluks of Greek origin often held high positions in the administration and army, the most famous example being the Grand Vizier of Tunis, Mustafa Khaznadar1.

As a result of the Greek national liberation Revolution of 1821-1829, the Battle of Navarino, and Russia's victory in the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-1829, the Greeks gained statehood. For the Greek community of Tunis, this meant the possibility of enjoying the protection of the consuls of European states in accordance with the regime of capitulations. The consulates of three powers - France, Great Britain and Russia-provided patronage to the Greeks. A Tunisian historian shows that the fundamental factor influencing the choice of the Greek consulate was precisely the religious one [Kazdaghli, 2002, p. 456]. In addition to the Orthodox community, the Russian consulate attracted the Greeks because the consuls of the Nissen family had good connections and influence at the court of the beys of Tunis. Members of the community could resort to the protection of the consul in case of danger of criminal prosecution by the regency authorities, as well as to resolve property disputes.

According to the French historian J. Gagnage, the total number of Greeks permanently residing in Tunis in 1834 was 250, but the author points out that these are only those Greeks who were under the patronage of the French and English consuls [Gagnage, 1960, p.37]. The Russian traveler L. F. Kostenko, who visited Tunis in the 1870s, calls the number 410 people [Kostenko, 1876, p. 222]. The book of the modern Tunisian historian K. Shater provides information on the number of Greek population in Tunis in 1856 - 1250 people. The Greek community was the third largest foreign colony in the regency, behind the Maltese and Italians (Chater, 1984, p. 588). Among the Tunisian Greeks were merchants, many fishermen.

One of the main functions of the Nissen family of consuls, which represented Russian interests in Tunisia, was to protect the interests of the Orthodox Greek community in that country.

In a letter to the Russian Envoy to Constantinople, Baron G. A. Stroganov, dated August 20, 1820, the consul reported that a Greek priest serving a parish under the patronage of the English Consul was demanding that all Russian captains arriving in Tunis pay a certain fee [AVPRI, p. 180, Embassy in Constantinople, he. 517(1), 1807, d. 1532, l. 67]. The captains ' complaints even reached the bey, who was informed by the consul that this priest had nothing to do with Russian subjects. And Bey, and most of the Greeks,

1 M. Khaznadar-Prime Minister of Tunisia from 1837 to 1873, Mamluk of Greek origin, originally called Gsorgss Kalkias Stravelakis.

page 112
The majority of the Ottoman citizens permanently residing in Tunis agreed that the best solution would be to send a priest directly from the Patriarchate of Constantinople. It would be directly subordinate to this patriarchate, which belongs to the actual Greeks, citizens of the Ottoman Empire, and would have the firman of the sultan. This would immediately stop the claims and abuses of the aforementioned priest. This is exactly what the consul requested from the Russian Envoy to the High Port.

During the Russo-Turkish wars, Tunis, a province and ally of the Ottoman Empire, considered the Greeks as representatives of the enemy camp. When, at the height of the Greek uprising, in 1825, the Russian merchant ship Saint Paul, owned by the Russian merchant Louis Philibert from Odessa, was shipwrecked off the coast of Tunis, Consul S. Nissen had to prove to the bey of Tunis "that they were not Greeks", otherwise he would not have allowed the surviving crew members to stay in the country [AVPRI, f. 180, Embassy in Constantinople, op. 517(1), 1825, d. 1533, l. 2].

In 1837, Consul Nissen "had the good fortune to save the life of a Greek who was under the protection of Russia: he unintentionally wounded a Tunisian subject with a shot" [AVPRI, f. 180, Embassy in Constantinople, op. 517(1), 1839, d. 1540, l. 4]. Obviously, Mr. Nissen granted the Greek consular protection, using this right in accordance with the capitulations. Another case related to the protection of Orthodox Greeks dates back to September 1840. The Consul received a message that on one of the small islands off the Tunisian coast there is a Greek woman who was enslaved by a Turk who lived on the island a few years ago. All this time, he was trying to convert her to Islam by force. The Greek woman begged for Russian protection and emancipation. Nissen received an audience with Bey Ahmad to demand the release of the unfortunate woman. After six months of red tape, the Greek woman found freedom.

Relations between the Greek Orthodox community, the Russian-Dutch Consulate, and the court of the Bey of Tunis remained friendly and respectful throughout the 19th century. This is evidenced by consular reports. In 1863, the Bey of Tunis, Mohammed al-Sadok, granted the Orthodox community a plot of land measuring 3,089 square meters. m in the town of Buhayra for the construction of a church and the expansion of the Orthodox cemetery [AVPRI, f. 149, Turkish table (old), op. 502-a, 1864, d. 3844, l. 38]. This gift was made in the form of a deal between Bey and a representative of the Greek community under the auspices of the Russian Consulate, Elia Manidachi. The consul reported this sign of respect to St. Petersburg, and Emperor Alexander II, as a return favor, granted the Bey of Tunis the badges of the Order of the White Eagle. Consul Nissen also received a Russian award - the Order of St. Stanislaus.

After the establishment of the French protectorate in Tunis in 1883, this story was continued. Representatives of the French community, feeling themselves masters of the country, tried to take away part of the donated land in their favor, while, as usual, Bey Sidi Ali was pressured by the powerful French resident Paul Cambon. Neither Bey nor the two diplomatic representatives of France and Russia found a compromise and took the case to their respective governments in Paris and St. Petersburg. Judging by the fact that in December 1883, representatives of the Greek community - the rector of the church Nikifor A. Kala and its trustees S. Siganaki and Kuglopolo - sent a letter of thanks to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia N. K. Girs in St. Petersburg, the situation was resolved in favor of the Greek side [AVPRI, f. 151, Politarchiv, op. 482, 1883, d. 1464, l. 11].

After the establishment of official consular relations between Russia and Tunisia in 1869, a thorough correspondence began between Consul K. Nissen and the Russian Envoy to the High Port N. P. Ignatiev. It paid considerable attention to the affairs of the Orthodox community in Tunisia. The case of Georgesadamantiades, a Greek resident of Tunis, dates back to 1870. G. Adamantiades, a merchant who sold candles and oil, bought out a debt obligation of a Catholic bishop

page 113
Tunis before managing the mosques of this regency. Wanting to move the case forward and receive the amount due from the bishop, he applied for assistance from the Russian Consulate, asking that his application be forwarded to the French mission for further proceedings. But Consul K. Nissen refused to accept this application under the pretext that the original deed of transfer of property was missing from the documents. The Greek wrote a complaint to the Russian ambassador in Constantinople, and the latter, with some reservations, took the side of G. Adamantiades, at the same time instructing the consul how to deal with persons protected by the Russian Empire.

"The Imperial Embassy should remind you once again that our main principle is that Russian patronage is granted by agreement of the parties, and not imposed. Therefore, if a person refuses it, then you should not hold it by force under your jurisdiction." "I must give you an order to limit, as far as possible, the cases of accepting foreigners living in Tunisia under our protection. And remember that the arbitrariness in this matter that takes place in Tunisia, and, as a result, the frequent cases of abuse, in fact contradict the laws of the Russian Empire. According to these laws, a person must confirm with reliable documents his right to receive Russian citizenship, and only in doubtful cases can he be accepted under our protection until his nationality is accurately clarified. As for foreigners, only if they renounce the rights to their real citizenship, they can accept ours, and then at the special request of the Governments of their countries "[AVPRI, f. 149, Turkish table (old), op. 502 a, 1867, d. 158, l. 28].

The fact that the patronage of Russia was not a mere formality, but really effective and honorable, is evidenced by the events of 1879, when the government of the young Greek kingdom decided to send its own consul to Tunis. But a part of the Greek Orthodox community, represented by Archimandrite Nikephoros Papadaki, appealed to the Russian Consul K. Nissen with a request not to deprive them of Russian patronage. In a report sent to the Head of the Asian Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, N. K. Girs, the consul describes this conversation as follows::

"On October 20, Archimandrite Nikephoros Papadaki, parish priest of the Orthodox Christian Church of Tunis, came to see me at the Consulate together with Mr. Michel Ghica, a Greek lawyer who has been living in Tunis for a long time. These gentlemen came to me, both on their own behalf and on behalf of a large number of their co-religionists, to ask me to continue defending the interests of the Greek Orthodox on behalf of Russia, as has always been the custom in Tunisia. They also asked not to be forced to submit to the Greek Consul recently sent to Tunis by the Athenian Court. They don't want to do this for the following two fundamental reasons: 1.The Greeks of Tunis cannot forget the paternal and benevolent administration granted them by the Imperial Russian Consulate for more than a hundred years; they regard it as ingratitude to leave the Consulate, which has given them so many proofs of loyalty to their interests; 2. The Greeks of Tunis cannot forget the Imperial Russian Consulate. The Archimandrite stated that if Russia no longer wishes to grant its powerful patronage to the Greeks, natives of the Greek Kingdom, it cannot force all Orthodox Christians, whether Greek or not, natives of the Turkish provinces, or those who were freed from the Muslim yoke during the last war2, so these Orthodox people cannot be forced to change their patronage which they were always satisfied with in order to submit to the Greek Government " [AVPRI, f. 161, St. Petersburg Main Archive V-A2, op. 181/2, 1879, d. 972, l. 13].

The Russian imperial government, represented by Chancellor Prince A.M. Gorchakov, allowed Consul Nissen to officially grant Russian protection to all Orthodox Greeks who are not Greek subjects. Representatives of the Greek community sent another letter of thanks to St. Petersburg.

All events related to the life of the Orthodox Greek community of Tunis remained in the area of attention of the Russian Consul. When, in September 1887, in Tunisian

2 Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878

page 114
For the first time, a military vessel under the national flag of Greece appeared in the waters, and the consul wrote a detailed report to the Russian Foreign Ministry on the course of this visit. In December 1888, Consul G. Nissen reported that the Bey of Tunis Sidi Ali awarded Archimandrite Nikephoros Qantas, parish priest of the Orthodox Church of Tunis, with the cross of the Knight of the Order of Iftikar, which the consul regarded as "proof of respect for the Orthodox faith and proof of the constant sympathy that the bey never ceases to demonstrate to our country and the Imperial Government" [AVPRI, f. 151, Politarkhiv, op. 482, 1883, d. 1464, l. 123].

In 1881, when the Russian Emperor Alexander II was assassinated in early March, the bey of Tunis not only sent telegrams of condolences to St. Petersburg, but also allowed solemn mourning events to be held in the capital [AVPRI, f. 151, Politarchiv, op. 482, 1881, d. 1463, l.4]. The funeral service, organized on the initiative of the Greek community, was attended by all the ministers of the Tunisian Government, the diplomatic corps, and representatives of the army in the local Greek Orthodox Church. A guard of honor of Tunisian troops dressed in mourning was lined up on the street.

After the establishment of the French protectorate in Tunis, the life of the Greek community, as well as other European diasporas, began to gradually change. In order to "Frenchify" the protectorate, the French colonial administration encouraged the naturalization of Greeks. Assimilation with the French led to the gradual loss of the collective identity of the Greeks of Tunis, they became an integral part of the European protectorate colony. Their connection to France was only strengthened during the First World War.

Since the 1920s, Tunisia has had a Russian community almost equal in size to the Greek one, which arrived from Sevastopol with the remnants of the Russian Imperial Fleet. The friendly relations between the Russian and Greek components of the European community of Tunis are evidenced by the fact that Greek priests always conducted church services in the Russian Orthodox parish in the absence of Russian priests [Panova, 2008, p.171].

After Tunisia gained national independence, almost all Europeans, including Greeks and Russians, left the country along with the former colonizers. The three-hundred-year Greek presence in Tunisia is over. But the positive and long-lasting experience of the friendly coexistence of the Orthodox community in a Muslim country contributed to the development of inter-state and inter-confessional ties between Tunisia, Greece and Russia, as well as to the formation of tolerance and openness in Tunisian society.

list of literature

Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire (AVPRI). f. 149. Turkish table (old). Op. 502-a. 1864. D. 3844. 1867. D. 158. F. 151, Politarchiv. Op. 482. 1883. D. 1463, 1464. F. 161. SPb. Main Archive V-A2. Op. 181/2. 1879. D. 972. F. 180. Embassy in Constantinople. Op. 517(1). 1807. d. 1532, 1533, 1540.

Danzig B. M. The Middle East in Russian Science and Literature, Moscow, 1973.

Igarss S. A. Russian policy in the Eastern question, its history in the XVII-XIX centuries. Critical assessment and future challenges. St. Petersburg, 1896.

Kaptersv N. F. The nature of Russia's relations to the Orthodox East in the XVI and XVII centuries. Sergiev Posad, 1914.

Kostsnko L. F. Travel to North Africa. St. Petersburg, 1876.

Novichsv A.D. Russia, Turkey and the struggle of the Greek population of the Ionian Islands for independence in 1798-1806 / / Colonial policy and National Liberation Movement. Chisinau, 1965.

Panova M. Russkie v Tunise [Russians in Tunisia]. The fate of emigration of the "first wave". Moscow, RSUH, 2008.

Chatcr Khclifa. Dépendance et mutation précoloniales. La régence de Tunis de 1815 à 1857. Tunis, 1984.

Ganiagc J. La population européenne de Tunis au milieu du XIX siècle. P., 1960.

Kazdaghli H. Communautés méditerranéennes de Tunisie. Les Grecs de Tunisie : du Millet-i-rum à l'assimilation française (XVIIe-XXe siècles) // Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Mediterranée. № 95-98. Avril 2002. Tunisie.

page 115

Permanent link to this publication: