The Filiki Eteria
The secret society that prepared the Greek Revolution, founded by Nikolaos Skoufas of Arta.
- Founded
- 14 September 1814, Odessa
- Founders
- Skoufas, Xanthos, Tsakalov
- Seat
- Odessa, Constantinople from 1818
- Leader
- Alexandros Ypsilantis, from April 1820
The Filiki Eteria was founded on 14 September 1814 in Odessa by Nikolaos Skoufas (from Arta), Emmanuil Xanthos (from Patmos) and Athanasios Tsakalov (from Ioannina). Panagiotis Anagnostopoulos was soon initiated too. Its purpose was to overthrow Ottoman rule and establish an independent Greek state.
Organisation
It was a pyramid-like organisation coordinated by an “Invisible Authority”, renamed in 1818 the “Authority of the Twelve Apostles”, with each Apostle responsible for a region. The ranks were the Brothers, the Recommended, the Priests and the Shepherds. It had about 20 members in 1814–1816, mass initiations began in 1818, and by early 1821 membership reached the thousands.
Leadership and Revolution
Skoufas died in 1818 and Ioannis Kapodistrias refused the leadership. In April 1820 Alexandros Ypsilantis took it over. The Society initiated the Greek War of Independence in spring 1821.