Grégoire d’Aristarchi Bey (b.14.10.1873-d.29.03.1883)
Gregory "Ligor" Aristarchis (Greek: Γρηγόριος
Αριστάρχης Grigorios Aristarchis; French: Grégoire Aristarchi; 1843–1914), also
known as Aristarchi Bey, was an Ottoman diplomat of Phanariote[3] Greek
ethnicity, compiler of a corpus of Ottoman legislation.
Législation ottomane, ou Recueil des lois, règlements,
ordonnances, traités, capitulations et autres documents officiels de l'Empire
ottoman is a collection of Ottoman law published by Gregory Aristarchis (as
Grégoire Aristarchi) and edited by Demetrius Nicolaides (as Démétrius
Nicolaïdes). The volumes were published from 1873 to 1888.
Volume 1 was published in 1873, Volumes 2–4 were published
in 1874, Volume 5 was published in 1878, Volume 6 was published in 1881, and
Volume VII was published in 1888.
Aristarchi Bey’s Législation ottomane [*]
[*] SOURCE: A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire. Translations of the Kanun-i Esasi and Other Official Texts into Minority Languages Johann Strauss
file:///C:/Users/eackman/Downloads/ITS%2018.pdf
These French translations were eventually collected and published in Istanbul. The best-known example of such a collection, embracing the whole of Ottoman legislation (which is still useful today) is that of Grégoire Aristarchi Bey, Législation ottomane, ou Recueil des lois, règlements, ordonnances, traités, capitulations et autres documents officiels de l´Empire ottoman (7 vols., Istanbul, 1873-1888).
This work was edited by Demetrius Nicolaides. Its prospective readers were, as the preface states, primarily foreign diplomats and residents.[1] The work contains translations of both the Düstur and the Mecelle. [2] Grégoire (“Ligor”) Aristarchi (1843- ?) was the scion of a well-known Phanariot family, which had supplied the Ottoman state with several Grand Dragomans in the past. Aristarchi Bey was trained as a jurist and started his career in the provinces. In 1861, he was appointed director of foreign correspondence in Crete. Later, he was vice-governor and political director (directeur politique) in Izmir (1867).
The Législation ottomane was published when he was appointed Ottoman ambassador (1873-1883) Washington[3]. There, he became a popular figure (and even a protagonist of one of Henry James’s novels). However Aristarchi Bey was not the translator of the entire corpus contained in this collection. One may even ask what contribution he actually made, since the translations in the Législation ottomane stem from the most diverse sources: The introduction and the classification of the laws was undertaken by a Greek lawyer in Istanbul, N. Petrakides, who had died an early death from consumption, a short time before the publication of the work.
Petrakides also wrote the (voluminous) notes. The French version of the Hatt-i şerif of Gülhane was reproduced from the Manuale di diritto publico e privato ottomano.
The Translation of Ottoman Official Texts into Minority Languages The translation of Ottoman official documents into the languages of the nonTurkish speaking population had a long tradition, beginning even before the Tanzimat reforms (1839). The very first Turkish paper to appear in the Ottoman Empire was the official gazette published by the Egyptians after the occupation of Crete (1830).
It appeared in a bilingual edition (Turkish-Greek) under the title Vekayi-i giridiyye / Κρητική Εφημερίς. 4 In Egypt itself, the history of the press had started with a government newspaper published in Turkish and Arabic, named Vekayi’-i mısriyye / al-Waqāʾiʿ al-miṣriyya. 5 Publication started in 1828, three years prior to that of the Takvim-i Vekayi published in the Ottoman Capital.6 The official paper of the Empire founded in 1831 under Sultan Mahmud II (1808-1939), also appeared for a while in French, Greek7 and Armenian. (According to some writers, there were also Arabic and Persian editions).
Translation activity increased with the promulgation of
various laws in the wake of the Tanzimat. The text of the famous Imperial
Rescript of Gülhane was published not only in Turkish in the Takvim-i vekayi
but also in French and Greek.9 The same applies to the Islahat fermanı of 1856.
In the early 1890s he worked as secretary/advisor to explosive and weapons manufacturer Alfred Nobel (Nobel Prize namesake and founder). Nobel hired him on the recommendation of Swedish Ambassador Carl Lewenhaupt. Nobel eventually used him to look into the question of promoting peace. His specific task was to keep Nobel informed of current activities with Peace movements throughout the world, including the study of new procedures of conflict resolution (for example, the establishment of an International Court).
Nobel, correctly, did not see the manufacturing of dynamite and weapons as evil in itself (pay attention anti-gun activists), clearing understanding that dynamite and weapons could be put to good or bad use, depending on who was using it. Thus, he saw no internal conflict with his manufacturing products and his personal desire for promoting world peace. Much of what we know today of Nobel’s views on Peace come from his correspondence with two persons… the Austrian peace partisan and authoress of the famous anti-war novel “ Lay down Your Arms ”, Bertha von Suttner, and Gregory Aristarchis during the time he worked for Nobel.
In essence, Nobel believed that a balance of power (weaponry) between countries would provide a substantial check before a country decided to make war on another country. Although skeptical of Peace Associations and Congresses, he employed Aristarchis to various peace initiatives being sought.
Eventually, Aristarchis’ work with Nobel was terminated because of their divergent views. In one letter to Ambassador Lewenhaupt, whose recommendation landed Aristarchis the job with Nobel, Nobel explained that he terminated Aristarchis’ employment after he suggested that Nobel start a special paper for “Peace propaganda.” Nobel told him that he “might as well throw his money out the window.” Later, after the fall of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, Aristarchis served as an Ottoman envoy to the Netherlands, the capacity in which he was serving when he died there in 1915.
[1] In the preface, it is said: “[...] l’édition d’une
collection des lois ottomanes, des conventions internationales, en langue
française, à l’usage des chancelleries consulaires établies dans l’Empire, à
l’usage des étrangers qui pour la plupart connaissent le français, était d’une
nécessité absolue” (Aristarchi, Législation ottomane, 1:vii).
33 [2] The latter contained in vols. VI and VI of
Aristarchi, Législation ottomane.
[3] Aristarchis was a "popular figure" in the United States, and Kuneralp wrote that in his youth he "was a dashing young bachelor known for his many feminine conquests." He appeared as the main character in a novel by Henry James.
For the curious: A Letter
At the time of this letter he was a representative of the Ottoman government to Prussia. From 1873-83 he was Ottoman Minister in Washington D.C.. After 1883 he lived in Paris.
The letter, in French, to an unnamed colleague in Washington reads, in full:“ My Dear Colleague, Do you allow me to use your complaisance to send the attached letter from a concerned mother to her deaf son who is in Washington? Your very devoted. Aristarchis”
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