Ioannis Kapodistrias

Ioannis Kapodistrias (10 or 11 February 1776 – 9 October 1831) was a politician, distinguished diplomat, architect of the Greek independence, founder and first governor of the modern Hellenic State. He also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia under Tsar Alexander I.

Quotes

 * "Victory shall be ours, but has to be in our hearts only the Greek sentiment. Anyone ready to listen servily to the foreign [powers] is a traitor."
 * On a conversation with Georgakis Mavromichalis after his arrival (1828), during the Greek War of Independence.
 * In Georgios Tertsetis, "Kolokotronis' Memoirs", Apologa about Capodistrias

Quotes about

 * […] of all those with an interest in our success, nobody acquitted himself with more consequence, goodwill and intelligence, and to greater effect, than Count Capo d’Istria. I met him 92 times and always found him true to himself, a most excellent guide, a most excellent adviser, and tirelessly patient, though what was happening in Switzerland frequently gave him just cause to give up in disgust. And the far more consequential negotiations over Poland and Saxony, which had been largely entrusted to him, could have given him an excuse to be indifferent to the interests of little Geneva.
 * Charles Pictet de Rochemont's report to the Geneva parliament at the end of his mission (April 1815)
 * Cramer Lucien, Correspondance diplomatique de Pictet de Rochemont et de François d’Ivernois, Paris, Vienne, Turine 1814-1816, 2 vol. Genève-Paris 1914, I, XXIII
 * […] Capodistrias's conduct in Switzerland has always done him proud. At first, the mission with which he was entrusted earned him the hostility of various parties whose interests he was jeopardising. Little by little his noble qualities were recognised, and today the Swiss unanimously mourn his loss; his name is also venerated by men of all persuasions.
 * Elie-Ami Betant, secretary of Capodistrias
 * Betant Elie-Ami, Correspondant du comte Capodistrias, Président de la Grèce, Genève-Paris, 1839, vol.I, p.25
 * The man who killed Kapodistrias, killed his own country.
 * Jean-Gabriel Eynard, banker and friend of Kapodistrias, after the news of his death.