Greek Travelers in Eastern Europe at the End of the 18th Century: Shifting Identities and the Production of Knowledge across Borders

Abstract

The paper follows the itineraries of two 18th-century scholars, Eugenios Voulgaris (1716-1806) and Μarinos Harbouris (1729-1782). Both came from the Ionian Islands and followed similar paths in their search for social accomplishment, which brought them to the court of Catherine the Great. In an era of vivid intellectual activity, the knowledge quests of the two men played significant role in their mobility patterns. The kind of knowledge produced in each case was different and at the service of different pursuits, but in both cases it was the outcome of simultaneous circulation of people, local intellectual traditions and, in the case of Harbouris, of ambitious projects about material objects and exotic crops.

Keywords

• mobility
• Paris
• Voulgaris (Eugenios)
• Harbouris (Marinos)
• patronage networks
• translation