15 Facts About Ioannis Varvakis

Ioannis Varvakis, known as Ivan Andreevich Varvatsi, was a Greek privateer, benefactor, and member of the Filiki Eteria.

Ioannis Varvakis's xebec was transformed into a fire ship, packed with combustibles, set on fire and steered into a large Turkish ship.

Ioannis Varvakis went to Saint Petersburg, where he met with Grigori Alexandrovich Potemkin, Russian general-field marshal, statesman, and favorite of Catherine II the Great, who arranged the audience with the Empress of Russia.

The boats of Ioannis Varvakis caught sturgeon, white salmon and other valuable fish.

Ioannis Varvakis invented a solution to preserve the freshness of the caviar eggs while being transported by ship.

Ioannis Varvakis produced timber boxes, which did not cause alterations in the precious eggs, were absolutely waterproof and thus were maintained in very good condition.

Ioannis Varvakis shipped caviar from Astrakhan to Greece by camel or by boat through the Volga river.

In 1788, the business of Ioannis Varvakis employed more than 3,000 workers.

In 1810, Ioannis Varvakis was granted the title of hereditary nobleman with a family coat of arms by Alexander I of Russia, who made him Court Counsel and decorated with a diamond Order of St Anne awarded for exceptional services and the Order of St Vladimir.

Ioannis Varvakis actively assisted the Greeks during the Greek Revolution, especially his home island of Psara.

Ioannis Varvakis desired to promote education for the new Greek state, and in his will he left 1 million rubles for the building of a high school, which was named Varvakeio in his honor.

Ioannis Varvakis financed the building of Athens' closed market, the Varvakeios Agora.

Ioannis Varvakis's first daughter, Maria Varvakis who was born in 1770, married Greek merchant Nikolay Ivanovich Komnino.

Since he had no sons, and desirous of preserving his name for the future generations, Ioannis Varvakis addressed to his patron, Catherine the Great, a request to permit his daughter Maria have a double-barreled surname, that is the family name of Varvakis, her father, and that of her husband, Komnino.

In 2012 a monument dedicated to Ioannis Varvakis was inaugurated in the city of Astrakhan.