Books by Iannis Carras
This study draws on the literature discussing the relationship between religion, non-economic and... more This study draws on the literature discussing the relationship between religion, non-economic and economic exchange to provide a partial explanation for the dramatic growth of such exchange in the border area between the Ottoman and Russian Empires. In the 17th and especially in the early 18th centuries, trusted merchants were sent by the religious institutions of the Orthodox East to Ukraine, the Caucasus and Russia itself to coordinate the collection of alms from Greeks in Ukraine and Russia, from the local population and also from state authorities. Members of the laity were less important in this role from the
1720s onwards. Lay people continued to be given the privilege of collecting alms for themselves and their dependents. The number of lay people engaged in alms-gathering suggests that charity and market exchange should not be regarded as entirely separate spheres of human activity at the time, but were closely interrelated. This study argues that changes in the processes, people and institutions engaged in alms-gathering are evident over the course of the 18th century, with implications both for the material and natural environment of the
borderlands and for the ways in which 18th century charity can be understood today. The work is in German.
Papers by Iannis Carras
Conference Programme, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, 26-28 June, 2023
Καλλιόπη Αμυγδάλου (επιμ.)[Kalliopi Amygdalou (ed.)], Κατασκευές της Πατρίδας. Αρχιτεκτονική, ταυτότητα και μνήμη στις ελληνικές κοινότητες της Οδησσού και της Μασσαλίας, 19ος και 20ός αιώνας [Constructions of the Patria: Architecture, identity and memory [...]], futura, 2022
Κεφάλαιο του συλλογικού προγράματος ODEMARS, επιμέλεια της Καλλιόπης Αμυγδάλου, το οποίο φωτίσει ... more Κεφάλαιο του συλλογικού προγράματος ODEMARS, επιμέλεια της Καλλιόπης Αμυγδάλου, το οποίο φωτίσει τη σχέση των εμπόρων της Νίζνας με την Οδησσό, τα δίκτυα των Ελλήνων στη Ρωσική αυτοκρατορία και πώς αυτά αποτέλεσαν συστατικό στοιχείο της δράσης της Φιλικής Εταιρείας.
Greeks in Ukraine in 1919: Identity and Class in the Memoirs of four participants in the “Greek Expedition to South Russia”
Das Erbe des Imperiums. Multinationale und regionale Aspekte der Ukrainischen Revolution 1917–1921, Nordost-Archiv, 2022
The article deals with Greeks in southern Ukraine, especially in Odesa, from the perspective of f... more The article deals with Greeks in southern Ukraine, especially in Odesa, from the perspective of four members of the Greek army during the so-called Greek campaign in southern Russia of 1918–1919. The aim was to reinforce Greece's claims in the peace negotiations following the end of the First World War. The article aims to show that the classification of the new Bolshevik government as Asian, African or 'Oriental' as justification for the intervention aligned with the actions of other colonial powers.This view supported the representation of Greece as a European Power that was able to colonize parts of the crumbling Ottoman Empire. Article can be accessed through the link. Alternatively contact me.
Euxeinos, 2021
Following the life and movements of a well-connected Ottoman Orthodox in the Russian E... more Following the life and movements of a well-connected Ottoman Orthodox in the Russian Empire, this article seeks to contribute towards an understanding of the ways in which individuals and groups from the Black Sea region were incorporated into the business and statecraft of empire. Alexander Levantinos, a technician from Gümüşhane, in the Pontus or Black Sea region of Anatolia, serves as a characteristic example of Pontic iterant miners, moving within the
Russian and Ottoman Empires and the territories in-between in search of new veins to exploit. Initially intending to search for copper in Russia, Levantinos was eventually granted permission to move to the region of Nerchinsk, where he established silver mines and transferred the necessary skills for silver mining to local workers. Simultaneously, he was engaged in trade with China. Levantinos’ biography demonstrates the overlap between state service, craftsmanship, and trade in Russia of the early eighteenth century. The tension between the transfer of skills and commercial transaction as an autonomous sphere, and transfer and exchange as embedded in a range of power relationships is central to Levantinos’ achievement. This tension should serve to underline the degree to which actors such as Levantinos contributed to the expansion of the simultaneously “minimalist” and “activist” Russian state, an expansion from which they benefited. The paper is published in Alexander E. Balistreri and Boris Belge, eds. "Exchange and Non-Exchange. Confronting Borders in the History of the Black Sea". Euxeinos - Culture and Governance in the Black Sea Region, Vol. 11, No. 32 (2021). Open access.
What to expect when expecting: waiting for the Russians in the eighteenth century Ottoman Empire
History of European Ideas, 2021
This article surveys recent work on oracular prophecies and their role in Greek perceptions of Ru... more This article surveys recent work on oracular prophecies and their role in Greek perceptions of Russia in the early modern period. Drawing on this survey, the article provides a critical assessment of the historiographical paradigm of the ‘Russian Expectation’ offered by Paschalis Kitromilides for the analysis of Greek-Russian relations. Finally, the article proposes that scholars should focus on the concept of protection as an aspect of political language, this providing an explanation for particular Greek and also Russian interpretations of the Treaty of Kuçuk-Kaynardja of 1774. Please feel free to contact me for information on how to access article.
Γιουλιάνα Μπόιτσεβα και Αναστασία Δρανδάκη (επιμ.), Θρησκευτική Τέχνη από την Ρωσία στην Ελλάδα 16ος-19ος αιώνας, Μουσείο Μπενάκη, Ινστιτούτο Μεσογειακών Σπουδών, 2017
An overview of Greek Russian relations in the context of the Benaki Museum's exhibition of Russia... more An overview of Greek Russian relations in the context of the Benaki Museum's exhibition of Russian religious art in Greece
"Connecting Migration and Identities: Godparenthood, Surety and Greeks in the Russian Empire (18t... more "Connecting Migration and Identities: Godparenthood, Surety and Greeks in the Russian Empire (18th-Early 19th Centuries)", in Olga Katsiardi-Hering and Maria A. Stassinopoulou, Across the Danube. Southeastern Europeans and their Travelling Identities (17th-19th C.), Studies in Global Migration History, Vol. 9, ISDN 978-90-04-33543-1, Brill, 2017, pp. 65-109.
The end of the 18th and the 19th centuries saw a wave of emigrations from the Balkans to the newly conquered Black Sea littoral regions of the Russian Empire. The year 1774 has been considered the starting point for such migration from the Greek world. In fact, migrations to the border regions of the Ukraine from Southeastern Europe and also from their Russian hinterland commenced earlier. And it is not always easy to differentiate the ethnicities of the migrating groups.
This paper seeks to examine the interconnections between migrations of the early and mid-18th century, and the wave of migrations that followed the 1774 Treaty of Kucuk Kainardzha. The extent to which movement patterns of monks and merchants in the Ukraine served as a basis for migration streams and eventually more permanent settlement decisions will be examined. Godparenthood, surety and other connections between migrants were to prove an important factor in the reworking of migrant identities. Particular attention will be paid to the towns of Moscow, Nezhin and Odessa.
It is only through an awareness of Voulgaris and Levshin as religious writers, churchmen and educ... more It is only through an awareness of Voulgaris and Levshin as religious writers, churchmen and educators that a fuller understanding of their relationship to the Enlightenment can emerge.
Uploaded with the permission of the Voltaire Foundation.
![Research paper thumbnail of Μετανάστευση και υπηρεσία στον Τσάρο. Ένας Ρωμιός σε Ρωσία και Κίνα των αρχών του 18ου αιώνα [Migration and service to the Tsar. A Romaic in Russia and China in the early 18th century]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/63735457/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Πάνος Σοφούλης [Panos Sophoulis] (επιμ.), Σλάβοι και ελληνικός κόσμος: Πρακτικά Α ́ Επιστημονικής Ημερίδας Τμήματος Σλαβικών Σπουδών [Slavs and the Greek World: Proceedings of the First Scientific Conference of the Department of Slavic Studies], Πελεκάνος [Pelekanos], Αθήνα [Athens], 2014
Το συγκεκριμένο άρθρο παρακολουθεί τη ζωή και τις μετακινήσεις ενός Ποντίου στη Ρωσική Αυτοκρατορ... more Το συγκεκριμένο άρθρο παρακολουθεί τη ζωή και τις μετακινήσεις ενός Ποντίου στη Ρωσική Αυτοκρατορία των αρχών του 18ου αιώνα. Συμβάλλει με αυτόν τον τρόπο στην κατανόηση των διαύλων μέσω των οποίων άτομα και ομάδες από την ευρύτερη περιοχή του Εύξεινου Πόντου ενσωματώθηκαν στα σχέδια αντίπαλων αυτοκρατοριών.
Ο συγκεκριμένος Πόντιος Ρωμιός ονομαζόταν Αλέξανδρος Λεβαντίνος και ήταν από το Gümüşhane (Αργυρούπολη). Αυτός και ο αδερφός του, Βενιαμίν Λεβαντίνος, περιγράφονται ως «ορυχοτεχνίτες» και επίσης «χρυσοχόοι» σε κείμενα της εποχής, και θα πρέπει να θεωρηθούν χαρακτηριστικά παραδείγματα των ανθρακωρύχων και μεταλλουργών του Πόντου, που κινούνταν εντός της Ρωσικής και της Οθωμανικής Αυτοκρατορίας, και των ενδιάμεσων περιοχών, αναζητώντας νέα κοιτάσματα («φλέβες») προς εκμετάλλευση.
Ο Αλέξανδρος Λεβαντίνος και ο αδερφός του συνόδευσαν τον Αρχίλ Ημερέτι (1647-1713), γιο του Βαχτάνγκ Ε΄ Σαχναουάζ, ως μέλη της αποστολής του Γεωργιανού πρίγκιπα στη Μόσχα. Στη Ρωσία, ο Αλέξανδρος Λεβαντίνος είχε αρχικά την πρόθεση να αναζητήσει χαλκό στην περιοχή του Νίζνι Ταγίλ, στα Ουράλια, στη συνέχεια μετεγκαταστάθηκε στο Τομσκ με σκοπό τον εντοπισμό και την επεξεργασία αργύρου. Τέλος, του δόθηκε η άδεια να μετακομίσει στην περιοχή του Νέρτσινσκ (Nerchinsk) για να συνεχίσει τις έρευνές του. Από το 1704 έως το 1709, ο Αλέξανδρος Λεβαντίνος –πραγματικός πρωτοπόρος– δημιούργησε μεταλλεία αργύρου κοντά στο Νέρτσινσκ και μετέδωσε τις απαραίτητες δεξιότητες για την εξόρυξη αργύρου σε τοπικούς εργάτες.
Ταυτόχρονα, ασχολήθηκε με το εμπόριο με την Κίνα. Οι αναφορές του Αλέξανδρου Λεβαντίνου και άλλων από το Νέρτσινσκ φωτίζουν τη ζωή στα ρωσο-κινεζικά σύνορα στις αρχές του 18ου αιώνα.
This paper examines trading routes across the Black Sea before 1774
Article on Palamas and patristics in the Russian Empire during the second half of the 18th centur... more Article on Palamas and patristics in the Russian Empire during the second half of the 18th century, and a commentary on aspects of Mark Levitt's The Visual Dominant (DeKalb, 2011).
Full title: Яннис Каррас, "Марк Левитт о Григории Паламе и патристика в Российской Империи во второй половине XVIII в., Сергей Шумило, Светлана Шумило (ред.), Афонское Наследие. Научный Альманах, Киев-Чернигов, 2015, с. 420-431.
Merchant colonies in the early modern period / p. 141-156., 2012
История российско-греческих отношений и перспестивы их развития в XXI веке / p. 59-66., 2010
В Поисках «Западного» на Балканах, Nov 2005
The Hellenic Review, vol. 1, p. 127-156., 2004
One of the central figures of the Enlightenment in the Greek world, Evgenios Voulgaris (1716-1806... more One of the central figures of the Enlightenment in the Greek world, Evgenios Voulgaris (1716-1806) has been criticised for becoming increasingly reactionary in later years. This article argues that an understanding of the importance of place and movement in Voulgaris' world -as also in his world-view-helps explain elements of continuity and change in his writings more generally. Rather than a shift from enlightenment to reaction, the article depicts a slow progression from an early Voulgaris intent -both in his writings and in the Athos Academy-on fusing Orthodoxy and Enlightenment, to a later Voulgaris less intent on creating a rational system out of the many influences on his thought and more insistent on the creation of a place for the Graikoi, liberated from the Ottomans. The complex inter-relation between the geographic, political and social conditions and the thought processes of one particular individual are examined. Given these conditions, and bearing in mind the dangers of a crude geographic determinism, Voulgaris' attempts to reconcile, indeed create a rational system out of the many influences on his thought, present considerable interest but were inevitably unlikely to succeed.
The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Bologna Center Journal of International Affairs / p. 95-110, 2000
Грецьке підприємництво і торгівля у Північному Причорномор’ї XVIII–XIX ст. Збірник наукових статей / с. 101-112., Dec 2012
Doctorate by Iannis Carras
"Trade, Politics and Brotherhood: Greek/Balkan populations in Russia 1700-1774". Doctoral dissert... more "Trade, Politics and Brotherhood: Greek/Balkan populations in Russia 1700-1774". Doctoral dissertation, Athens University, submitted 2010, defended 2011.
For the most part the doctorate is based on archival material from Nezhin, Chernigov and RGADA, the Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow.
The doctorate is currently being prepared for publication as a monograph.
1. Εισαγωγή: Εμπόριο και Αδελφότητα
2. Καραβάνια και εμποροπανήγυρεις
2.1 Η εμποροπανήγυρη
... more 1. Εισαγωγή: Εμπόριο και Αδελφότητα
2. Καραβάνια και εμποροπανήγυρεις
2.1 Η εμποροπανήγυρη
2.2 Καραβάνια
2.3 Πόσοι ήσαν οι Ρωμιοί;
2.4 Οι αιτίες της ροής Ρωμιών εμπορευόμενων στη Καζακία
2.5 Που ταξίδευαν οι έμποροι;
2.6 Η διαμόρφωση μιας αγοράς
3. Κίνδυνοι και προϊόντα
3.1 Κίνδυνοι
3.2 Τελωνιακοί και λαθραίο εμπόριο
3.3 Κοζάκοι και Τάταροι
3.4 Φόροι και στρατιώτες
3.5 Προϊόντα
3.6 Υπομονή και φιλία
Uploads
Books by Iannis Carras
1720s onwards. Lay people continued to be given the privilege of collecting alms for themselves and their dependents. The number of lay people engaged in alms-gathering suggests that charity and market exchange should not be regarded as entirely separate spheres of human activity at the time, but were closely interrelated. This study argues that changes in the processes, people and institutions engaged in alms-gathering are evident over the course of the 18th century, with implications both for the material and natural environment of the
borderlands and for the ways in which 18th century charity can be understood today. The work is in German.
Papers by Iannis Carras
Russian and Ottoman Empires and the territories in-between in search of new veins to exploit. Initially intending to search for copper in Russia, Levantinos was eventually granted permission to move to the region of Nerchinsk, where he established silver mines and transferred the necessary skills for silver mining to local workers. Simultaneously, he was engaged in trade with China. Levantinos’ biography demonstrates the overlap between state service, craftsmanship, and trade in Russia of the early eighteenth century. The tension between the transfer of skills and commercial transaction as an autonomous sphere, and transfer and exchange as embedded in a range of power relationships is central to Levantinos’ achievement. This tension should serve to underline the degree to which actors such as Levantinos contributed to the expansion of the simultaneously “minimalist” and “activist” Russian state, an expansion from which they benefited. The paper is published in Alexander E. Balistreri and Boris Belge, eds. "Exchange and Non-Exchange. Confronting Borders in the History of the Black Sea". Euxeinos - Culture and Governance in the Black Sea Region, Vol. 11, No. 32 (2021). Open access.
The end of the 18th and the 19th centuries saw a wave of emigrations from the Balkans to the newly conquered Black Sea littoral regions of the Russian Empire. The year 1774 has been considered the starting point for such migration from the Greek world. In fact, migrations to the border regions of the Ukraine from Southeastern Europe and also from their Russian hinterland commenced earlier. And it is not always easy to differentiate the ethnicities of the migrating groups.
This paper seeks to examine the interconnections between migrations of the early and mid-18th century, and the wave of migrations that followed the 1774 Treaty of Kucuk Kainardzha. The extent to which movement patterns of monks and merchants in the Ukraine served as a basis for migration streams and eventually more permanent settlement decisions will be examined. Godparenthood, surety and other connections between migrants were to prove an important factor in the reworking of migrant identities. Particular attention will be paid to the towns of Moscow, Nezhin and Odessa.
Uploaded with the permission of the Voltaire Foundation.
Ο συγκεκριμένος Πόντιος Ρωμιός ονομαζόταν Αλέξανδρος Λεβαντίνος και ήταν από το Gümüşhane (Αργυρούπολη). Αυτός και ο αδερφός του, Βενιαμίν Λεβαντίνος, περιγράφονται ως «ορυχοτεχνίτες» και επίσης «χρυσοχόοι» σε κείμενα της εποχής, και θα πρέπει να θεωρηθούν χαρακτηριστικά παραδείγματα των ανθρακωρύχων και μεταλλουργών του Πόντου, που κινούνταν εντός της Ρωσικής και της Οθωμανικής Αυτοκρατορίας, και των ενδιάμεσων περιοχών, αναζητώντας νέα κοιτάσματα («φλέβες») προς εκμετάλλευση.
Ο Αλέξανδρος Λεβαντίνος και ο αδερφός του συνόδευσαν τον Αρχίλ Ημερέτι (1647-1713), γιο του Βαχτάνγκ Ε΄ Σαχναουάζ, ως μέλη της αποστολής του Γεωργιανού πρίγκιπα στη Μόσχα. Στη Ρωσία, ο Αλέξανδρος Λεβαντίνος είχε αρχικά την πρόθεση να αναζητήσει χαλκό στην περιοχή του Νίζνι Ταγίλ, στα Ουράλια, στη συνέχεια μετεγκαταστάθηκε στο Τομσκ με σκοπό τον εντοπισμό και την επεξεργασία αργύρου. Τέλος, του δόθηκε η άδεια να μετακομίσει στην περιοχή του Νέρτσινσκ (Nerchinsk) για να συνεχίσει τις έρευνές του. Από το 1704 έως το 1709, ο Αλέξανδρος Λεβαντίνος –πραγματικός πρωτοπόρος– δημιούργησε μεταλλεία αργύρου κοντά στο Νέρτσινσκ και μετέδωσε τις απαραίτητες δεξιότητες για την εξόρυξη αργύρου σε τοπικούς εργάτες.
Ταυτόχρονα, ασχολήθηκε με το εμπόριο με την Κίνα. Οι αναφορές του Αλέξανδρου Λεβαντίνου και άλλων από το Νέρτσινσκ φωτίζουν τη ζωή στα ρωσο-κινεζικά σύνορα στις αρχές του 18ου αιώνα.
Full title: Яннис Каррас, "Марк Левитт о Григории Паламе и патристика в Российской Империи во второй половине XVIII в., Сергей Шумило, Светлана Шумило (ред.), Афонское Наследие. Научный Альманах, Киев-Чернигов, 2015, с. 420-431.
Doctorate by Iannis Carras
For the most part the doctorate is based on archival material from Nezhin, Chernigov and RGADA, the Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow.
The doctorate is currently being prepared for publication as a monograph.
2. Καραβάνια και εμποροπανήγυρεις
2.1 Η εμποροπανήγυρη
2.2 Καραβάνια
2.3 Πόσοι ήσαν οι Ρωμιοί;
2.4 Οι αιτίες της ροής Ρωμιών εμπορευόμενων στη Καζακία
2.5 Που ταξίδευαν οι έμποροι;
2.6 Η διαμόρφωση μιας αγοράς
3. Κίνδυνοι και προϊόντα
3.1 Κίνδυνοι
3.2 Τελωνιακοί και λαθραίο εμπόριο
3.3 Κοζάκοι και Τάταροι
3.4 Φόροι και στρατιώτες
3.5 Προϊόντα
3.6 Υπομονή και φιλία