Family Name: Voulgaris
First Name: Eugenios
Birth Date: Sun, Aug 09, 1716
Birth Place: Corfu
Death Date: Wed, Jun 11, 1806
Death Place: St. Petersburg
Main places of activity:
Place From To
Ioannina 1741 1752
Place From To
Mount Athos 1752 1758
Place From To
St. Petersburg 1770 1774
Personal info:
Education

Eugenios Voulgaris, born Eleftherios Voulgaris, began his education in Corfu at the theological and philosophical school of Vikentios Damodos, before moving to Ioannina, one of the centres of the Greek or Neo-Hellenic enlightenment, where he studied under Athanasios Psalidas.

In 1737 he became a monk and presbyter at the monastery of Saint John on the island of Patmos, and changed his name to Eugenios.  He might have completed his studies in theology, philosophy, natural sciences and languages at the university of Padua (1738-42), but there are no sources confirming this hypothesis.
Career

During most of his life, Voulgaris pursued a career in the highest educational institutions of Eastern Europe.

Thanks to his networks and very strong family connections, in 1742 he was the director of the prestigious Maroutsaia school in Ioannina, before moving to the Kozani school in Macedonia and eventually becoming the head of the Athonite Academy in the Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos from 1753 to 1759. In 1759 he was the head of the Patriarchal Academy in Istanbul until 1761.

Even though most of these schools were financed by rich merchants willing to support a new system of education looking to the achievements of the Western enlightenment, Voulgaris' experimental teaching was never easy to accomodate with the neo-Aristotelian curriculum and Orthodox mindset of the traditional institutions he was attached to: he taught Locke's philosophy and tried to reconcile Newtonian physics with Aristotle's, praising authors such as Voltaire, Wolff and Genovesi.

After rebuilding his patronage networks in the 1760s, Voulgaris dedicated the second part of his life to an ecclesiastic career, and to the publication of a consistent part of his manuscripts.

Accepting the invitation of Catherine II of Russia, Voulgaris reached Saint Petersburg in 1771, working as a librarian at her court and as a propagandist able to address Greek Orthodox populations for her expansionist designs. In 1775, he was ordained archbishop to the diocese of Slaviansk and Cherson, which were created ad hoc on the lands conquered from the Ottomans. After his retirement for political disagreements in 1779, Voulgaris continued to live in the monastery of the Exaltation of the Cross until he came back to Saint Petersburg in 1787.

In 1766, he was nominated honorary member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, while in 1788 he was elected as a member of the Royal Society of London.
Translations Other Works

translations activities

Introducing himself to Catherine II as a 'Slaviano-Bulgarian by origin, Greek by birth, Russian by inclination' (Mackridge, 2010), Voulgaris accurately described his ability to move between different cultural, social and intellectual environments.

He translated from French, Latin, Russian and English in different types of Greek languages: from the Homeric Greek of his versions of Vergil to the ancient Greek he used for philosophical tracts, to contemporary Greek for religious works.

His translation activities began very early for pedagogical purposes, as Voulgaris incorporated scraps and bits of contemporary philosophy and science in his textbooks. From the 1760s onwards, he started translating as a conscious strategy to gain the favor of Catherine II of Russia and enlarge his influence from the Greek Orthodox communities in the Balkans to the Russian court.

A large part of Voulgaris' production remained unpublished, while some of the translations listed in his autograph notes include some works that could not be located (Batalden, 1976). Among the authors he translated we can find Aurelius Augustinus, Jean-Baptise Duhamel, Georg Horn, Edmond Pourchot, Christian Wolff, and Johann Friedriech Wucherer.

Notwithstanding his devotion to the Orthodox Church, Voulgaris' role in renovating Greek thought in the context of the Neo-Hellenic enlightenment was central.

secondary bibliography references

Paschalis M. Kitromilides, 'John Locke and the Greek Intellectual Tradition: An Episode in Locke’s Reception in South-East Europe' in Locke’s Philosophy: Content and Context, ed. by Graham Alan John Rogers, Clarendon Press, 1994, 217-35.

Manolis Patiniotis, 'Periphery Reassessed: Eugenios Voulgaris converses with Isaac Newton', The British Journal for the History of Science, 40, n°4 (2007), 471-90.

Sophia Papaioannou, 'Eugenios Voulgaris' Translation of the Georgics: An Introduction to the First Modern Greek Translation of Vergil', Vergilius, 54 (2008), 97-123.

Peter Mackridge, Language and National Identity in Greece, 1766-1976, Oxford University Press, 2010.

Manolis Patiniotis, 'The Burden of Translation: Eugenios Voulgaris and the Circulation of Knowledge in Eighteenth-Century Europe', Journal of History of Science and Technology, n°8 (2013), 48-68.

Stephen Batalden, 'Notes from a Leningrad Manuscript: Eugenios Voulgaris' Autograph List of his Own Works', The Gleaner, n°13 (2016), 1-22 (originally published 1976).

Manolis Patiniotis and Sakis Gekas, 'Greek Travelers in Eastern Europe at the End of the Eighteenth Century: Shifting Identities and the Production of Knowledge across Borders', Diasporas. Circulations, migrations, histoire, n°29 (2017), 17-32.

Sophia Papaioannou, 'Sing it like Homer. Eugenios Voulgaris' Translation of the Aeneid', in Virgil and his Translators, ed. by Susanna Braund and Zara Martirosova Torlone, Oxford University Press, 2018, 150-65.

Translations

  • Memnon, histoire orientale

  • Translation Title: Ουολταίρου ο Μέμνων
  • Original Author: Voltaire
  • Original title: Memnon, histoire orientale
  • Publ. Year From: 1746 to:
  • lang: French
  • Translation: Ουολταίρου ο Μέμνων
  • Pub. Place: Leipzig
  • Pub. Date: 1765
  • Lang: Greek
  • Note:

    Vosporomachia or the Battle of the Bosphorus is a comical poem written in Greek by the interpreter at the Habsburg's embassy in Istanbul Caspar Ludwig Momarz, and then edited by Voulgaris while in Leipzig.

    Voulgaris added a translation in verses of Voltaire's Memnon to the work.

  • Elementa arithmeticae et geometriae in vsvs avditorvm

  • Translation Title: Των μαθηματικών στοιχείων αι πραγματείαι αι αρχοειδέσταται
  • Original Author: Johann Andreas von Segner
  • Original title: Elementa arithmeticae et geometriae in vsvs avditorvm
  • Publ. Year From: 1738 to:
  • lang: Latin
  • Translation: Των μαθηματικών στοιχείων αι πραγματείαι αι αρχοειδέσταται
  • Publisher: Breitkopf
  • Pub. Place: Leipzig
  • Pub. Date: 1766
  • Lang: Greek
  • Note:

    Voulgaris was a good friend of Segner, a Hungarian mathematician he met in Leipzig upon his arrival.

    This translation seems to have been strategical to take advantage of Segner's academical networks in Russia, and eventually obtain a letter of recommendation from him to access St. Petersburg's Imperial Academy and Catherine II's court (Patiniotis 2013).

  • Essai historique et critique sur les dissensions des églises de Pologne

  • Translation Title: Περ̀ι τῶν διχονοιν τῶν εν ταις ̓Εκκλησ́ιαις τὴς Πολον́ιας δοκ́ιμιον ̔ιστορικ̀ον κὰι κριτικ́ον
  • Original Author: Voltaire
  • Original title: Essai historique et critique sur les dissensions des églises de Pologne
  • Publ. Year From: 1766 to:
  • lang: French
  • Translation: Περ̀ι τῶν διχονοιν τῶν εν ταις ̓Εκκλησ́ιαις τὴς Πολον́ιας δοκ́ιμιον ̔ιστορικ̀ον κὰι κριτικ́ον
  • Pub. Place: Leipzig
  • Pub. Date: 1767
  • Lang: Greek
  • Note:

    Voulgaris replicated Voltaire's original strategy, dedicating the work to Catherine II and attaching his own Essay on religious tolerance (Σχεδίασμα περί της ανεξιθρησκείας) to the translation (Patiniotis 2013).

  • Наказ ея Императорскаго Величества Екатерины II учрежденной коммиссіи о составленіи проекта новаго уложенія

  • Translation Title: Εισήγησις της Αυτοκρατορικής Μεγαλειότητος Αικατερίνας Β'
  • Original Author: Catherine II
  • Original title: Наказ ея Императорскаго Величества Екатерины II учрежденной коммиссіи о составленіи проекта новаго уложенія
  • Publ. Year From: 1765 to:
  • lang: Russian
  • Translation: Εισήγησις της Αυτοκρατορικής Μεγαλειότητος Αικατερίνας Β'
  • Publisher: Tipografīi Akademīi nauk
  • Pub. Place: Saint Petersburg
  • Pub. Date: 1769
  • Lang: Greek
  • Note:

    Voulgaris maintaned the original parallel text in Russian alongside his translation.

    The Nakaz was a new legal code Catherine II wanted to enforce in the wake of the wars against the Ottoman empire, and having it translated in Greek constituted a way to fashion herself as the leader of the Orthodox church and protector of the Christian populations linving under the Sultan. In the introduction, Voulgaris praised the empress's enlightened despotism (Patiniotis 2013).

  • Духовный регламент, тщаніем и повелѣніем всепресвѣтлѣйшаго

  • Translation Title: Πνευματικός Κανονισμός
  • Original Author: Feofan Prokopovich
  • Original title: Духовный регламент, тщаніем и повелѣніем всепресвѣтлѣйшаго
  • Publ. Year From: 1720 to:
  • lang: Russian
  • Translation: Πνευματικός Κανονισμός
  • Pub. Place: Saint Petersburg
  • Pub. Date: 1915
  • Lang: Greek
  • Note:

    Voulgaris' translation of Prokopovich's "Spiritual Regulations" was composed in 1776 but not published until 1916, and addressed the legal question of the status of Orthodox lands taken from the Ottomans during the war (Patiniotis 2013).

  • Georgica

  • Translation Title: Των Γεωργικών τα Δ' βιβλία εν ηρωικώ τω μέτρω
  • Original Author: Vergil
  • Original title: Georgica
  • Publ. Year From: 0028 to:
  • lang: Latin
  • Translation: Των Γεωργικών τα Δ' βιβλία εν ηρωικώ τω μέτρω
  • Pub. Place: Saint Petersburg
  • Pub. Date: 1785
  • Lang: Greek
  • Note:

    Voulgaris included a commentary to the four books and chose an imitation of Homeric Greek as the target language of his translation. To its contemporaries, the Georgics' translation was both a manual of applied agriculture to be used in rural Ukraine where Voulgaris was teaching, and an occasion to underline the didactic uses of poetry (Papaioannou 2008).

  • Politique tirée des propres paroles de l'écriture Sainte

  • Translation Title: Τα πολιτικά ληφθέντα εξ αυτών των ιερών λογίων, της Θείας Γραφής
  • Original Author: Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
  • Original title: Politique tirée des propres paroles de l'écriture Sainte
  • Publ. Year From: 1708 to:
  • lang: French
  • Translation: Τα πολιτικά ληφθέντα εξ αυτών των ιερών λογίων, της Θείας Γραφής
  • Pub. Date: 1789
  • Lang: Greek
  • Note:

    Voulgaris' translation used the 1710 Bruxelles' edition as a source.

  • Aenē̆is

  • Translation Title: Της Αινειάδος τα ΙΒ' βιβλία εν ηρωικώ τω μέτρω
  • Original Author: Vergil
  • Original title: Aenē̆is
  • Publ. Year From: 0018 to:
  • lang: Latin
  • Translation: Της Αινειάδος τα ΙΒ' βιβλία εν ηρωικώ τω μέτρω
  • Pub. Place: Saint Petersbug
  • Pub. Date: 1790
  • Lang: Greek
  • Note:

    Voulgari's edition includes the original Latin text, the parallel translation in Homeric Greek and the commentary in kathareuousa Greek for didactical purposes (Papaioannou 2018).

  • Poems

  • Translation Title: Stikhotvoreniia
  • Original Author: Anacreon
  • Original title: Poems
  • lang: Greek
  • Translation: Stikhotvoreniia
  • Pub. Place: Saint Petersburg
  • Pub. Date: 1792
  • Lang: Russian
  • Note:

    While Voulgaris produced a literal translation from Greek to Russian, L'vov arranged the text in a lyrical form.

  • Elementa geometriae planae ac solidae, et selecta ex Archimede theoremata

  • Translation Title: A. Tακουετίου, Στοιχεία Γεωμετρίας μετά σημειώσεων του Ουίστωνος
  • Original Author: André Tacquet
  • Original title: Elementa geometriae planae ac solidae, et selecta ex Archimede theoremata
  • Publ. Year From: 1671 to:
  • lang: Latin
  • Translation: A. Tακουετίου, Στοιχεία Γεωμετρίας μετά σημειώσεων του Ουίστωνος
  • Pub. Place: Wien
  • Pub. Date: 1804
  • Lang: Greek

  • Introductio ad philosophiam: metaphysicam et logicam continens

  • Translation Title: Εισαγωγή εις την Φιλοσοφίαν του Γραβεζάνδου, περιέχουσα την μεταφυσικήν και την λογικήν
  • Original Author: Willem Jacob van’s Gravesande
  • Original title: Introductio ad philosophiam: metaphysicam et logicam continens
  • Publ. Year From: 1736 to:
  • lang: Latin
  • Translation: Εισαγωγή εις την Φιλοσοφίαν του Γραβεζάνδου, περιέχουσα την μεταφυσικήν και την λογικήν
  • Pub. Place: Moscow
  • Pub. Date: 1804
  • Lang: Greek

  • Elementa Metaphysicae. In usum privatorum adolescentium Mathematicum in morem adornata

  • Translation Title: Αντωνίου του Γενουηνσίου, Στοιχεία της μεταφυσικής
  • Original Author: Antonio Genovesi
  • Original title: Elementa Metaphysicae. In usum privatorum adolescentium Mathematicum in morem adornata
  • Publ. Year From: 1742 to:
  • lang: Latin
  • Translation: Αντωνίου του Γενουηνσίου, Στοιχεία της μεταφυσικής
  • Pub. Place: Wien
  • Pub. Date: 1805
  • Lang: Greek

  • An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

  • Translation Title: Υποτύπωσις ή υπόμνημα φιλοσοφικόν περί του κατά άνθρωπον νου εκ του Άγγλου Λωκίου
  • Original Author: John Locke
  • Original title: An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
  • Publ. Year From: 1688 to:
  • lang: English
  • Translation: Υποτύπωσις ή υπόμνημα φιλοσοφικόν περί του κατά άνθρωπον νου εκ του Άγγλου Λωκίου
  • Lang: Ancient Greek
  • Note:

    Although the exact date of the manuscript is unknown, Voulgaris was teaching Locke's Essay when in Mount Athos, in the 1740s. This would explain the peculiar choice of ancient Greek as target language of his translation.

  • Épître à l’impératrice de Russie

  • Translation Title: Επιστολή προς την αυτοκρατόρισσαν των Ρώσσων
  • Original Author: Voltaire
  • Original title: Épître à l’impératrice de Russie
  • Publ. Year From: 1770 to:
  • lang: French
  • Translation: Επιστολή προς την αυτοκρατόρισσαν των Ρώσσων
  • Pub. Place: Saint Petersburg
  • Pub. Date: 1770
  • Lang: Greek

  • Sermon du papa Nicolas Charisteski

  • Translation Title: Λόγος του Παπά Χαριστηκίου
  • Original Author: Voltaire
  • Original title: Sermon du papa Nicolas Charisteski
  • Publ. Year From: 1770 to:
  • lang: French
  • Translation: Λόγος του Παπά Χαριστηκίου
  • Pub. Place: Saint Petersburg
  • Pub. Date: 1770
  • Lang: Greek

  • Le tocsain des rois

  • Translation Title: Το διεγερτικόν των βασιλέων
  • Original Author: Voltaire
  • Original title: Le tocsain des rois
  • Publ. Year From: 1770 to:
  • lang: French
  • Translation: Το διεγερτικόν των βασιλέων
  • Pub. Place: Saint Petersburg
  • Pub. Date: 1771
  • Lang: Greek

  • Philosophia Sensuum Mechanica Methodice

  • Translation Title: Περί συστήματος του παντός
  • Original Author: Fortunato da Brescia
  • Original title: Philosophia Sensuum Mechanica Methodice
  • Publ. Year From: 1744 to: 1746
  • lang: Latin
  • Translation: Περί συστήματος του παντός
  • Pub. Place: Wien
  • Pub. Date: 1804
  • Lang: Greek

  • View of the internal evidence of the Christian religion

  • Translation Title: Εξέτασις της εσωτερικής σαφηνείας του Χριστιανισμού. Τρίτη έκδοση
  • Original Author: Soame Jenyns
  • Original title: View of the internal evidence of the Christian religion
  • Publ. Year From: 1775 to:
  • lang: English
  • Translation: Εξέτασις της εσωτερικής σαφηνείας του Χριστιανισμού. Τρίτη έκδοση
  • Pub. Place: Athens
  • Pub. Date: 1841
  • Lang: Greek
calamaio

By:

  • Giovanni Lista