Statue of Ioannis Kapodistrias

The first Governor of the Greek nation

A native of Corfu, descendant of an aristocratic family, Ioannis Kapodistrias (1776-1831), diplomat and Minister of Foreign Affairs in Russia, was elected in 1827 as the first Governor of the Greek nation. In a Greece exhausted by its military struggles and also from civil conflicts, Kapodistrias took on the titanic task of modernizing the central government and the economy, securing the wider borders of the country, as well as achieving peace and ensuring security within the nation. However, his conflict with local interests and the exclusion of the leaders of local groups from positions of power created a great deal of opposition, resulting in his assassination on 27th September 1831, outside the church of Agios Spyridon in Nafplio.

What are the characteristics of the sculpture?

The sculpture is made with white Pentelic marble. It depicts a middle aged Kapodistrias, moving slightly forward, with thick hair and wearing a formal European dress coat (‘frako’). On his right side next to his heart are pinned medals, while he holds his gloves in his left hand. His right hand is slightly extended. The sculpture is set upon a section of a trunk from an oak tree from which new branches are starting to grow, symbolizing the modernizing character of the task which the Governor had taken on. The tree trunk also serves as a support for the statue.

When was the work commissioned and installed?

The work of creating the statue was awarded to the sculptor Michalis Tombros in 1929 by the Nafplio City Council, led by Mayor Konstantinos Kokkinos. The sculpture was praised by the prominent members of the Artistic Monitoring Committee, the painter Konstantinos Parthenis and the architect Dimitrios Pikionis. It was installed in Kapodistrias Square in June 1933.