Gregory IV of Athens

Who is Gregory IV of Athens?

Gregory IV, was a Greek scholar and cleric who became Archbishop of Athens in 1827–1828.

Gregory was born in Gjirokastër in the mid to late-18th century. In ca. 1744 he was a teacher in the New Academy, a famous educational institution in Moscopole, a leading center of Greek culture at the time . In 1799 he was appointed bishop of Paramythia but remained in this position for only a few months. In 1799, while Patriarch of Constantinople was Gregory V, he was appointed Archbishop of Euboea, also called "Bishop of Evripos". In the summer of 1821, when the Greek War of Independence spread to Euboia, the Turks put him under detention until January 1823. When freed, he immediately put himself at the disposition of the Greek Revolutionary Government. In his letter to the High Parliament he thanks God for saving him from the hands of the "tyrants of the Nation", expresses his will to "do his best effort for everything for the benefit of Greece and especially for the people of this island" and requests the Parliament to use him "for everything that may be beneficial to the Homeland". It seems though, that before his detention Gregory had already been involved in the Revolution, because a good number of Epirots, and indeed many from Argyrokastro, had been fighting in Euboea. It is assumed by the historians that this is the reason that the Turks had arrested him.