Manto Mavrogenous - Mykonos
Manto Mavrogenous was a prominent heroine of Greece, the daughter of Nikolaos Mavrogenis, a prominent merchant who was settled in Trieste. She was born in 1796 in the village of Marmara on the island of Paros. Her mother, Zacharati, was a Mykonian, the daughter of Antonis Hatzis Batis.
Coming from a Greek family in Romania that fled secretly to Italy, Manto's mother, Zacharati Batis, was born in Mykonos. They settled in Trieste, where Manto's father, Nikolaos, engaged in trade. One of their ancestors, Nikolaos Mavrogenis, was a dragoman of the Ottoman fleet and the ruler of Wallachia. In 1812, Manto's father entrusted her education to him in Tinos.
During the Revolution, Manto Mavrogenous was active mainly in Mykonos. At her urging, the islanders revolted against the Turks. Mavrogenous equipped ships with her own money and led the fight against pirates who were ravaging the Cyclades. Later, she fought in Pelion, Phthiotis, and Livadeia. Fluent in French, she drafted an emotional appeal to the women of France, seeking their support for the Greek population. Besides French, she spoke impeccable Italian and Turkish.
With the outbreak of the Revolution in 1821, Manto participated in meetings for involvement in the Holy Struggle and decided to go to Mykonos. She equipped two ships with her own funds, captained by Azorba and Nikolaos, and sent them to join the struggle, along with two other Mykonian ships. In June 1821, with Manto as the driving force, four more Mykonian ships were equipped for the struggle.
On October 22, 1822, she repelled and defeated a force of two hundred Turks who invaded Mykonos. Manto, defying death, emerged as a worthy commander of the Holy Struggle.
On February 10, 1823, leading a force of 800 men from Mykonos and other Cycladic islands, she set out from Mykonos. She personally trained and equipped them in 16 detachments of 50 men each, using her own finances. She led them against the Turks in Euboea, Thessaly, and Rumelia. Throughout the campaign, Manto not only spread enthusiasm and inspired the fighters but actively participated and fought courageously on the front lines. Manto contributed 700,000 grosia to the Struggle. In 1826, she had her jewelry auctioned to provide for the care of two thousand Mesolonghi residents who survived the Exodus.
For her services to the homeland, she was awarded the honorary rank of Brigadier General by Kapodistrias, who also granted her a central residence in Nafplio.
After the Revolution, disappointed by her unsuccessful romantic involvement with Dimitrios Ypsilantis and pursued by Ioannis Kolettis, she returned to Mykonos and, after a few years, died penniless in Paros in 1848. Her funeral was public, and she was buried in the courtyard of Katapoliani.
Για τις υπηρεσίες στην Πατρίδα, της απένειμαν τον επίτιμο βαθμό του αντιστράτηγου από τον Καποδίστρια και της παραχώρησε κεντρικό σπίτι στο Ναύπλιο.
Μετά την Επανάσταση, απογοητευμένη από την άτυχη ερωτική περιπέτειά της με το Δημήτριο Υψηλάντη και καταδιωγμένη από τον Ιωάννη Κωλέττη, ξαναγύρισε στη Μύκονο κι έπειτα από λίγα χρόνια πέθανε πάμφτωχη στην Πάρο στα 1848. Η κηδεία της υπήρξε πάνδημη. Ετάφη στο προαύλιο της Καταπολιανής.
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