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Prince 'Alexander Ypsilantis', 'Ypsilanti', or 'Alexandros Ypsilantis' (Greek: Αλέξανδρος Υψηλάντης; Romanian: ''Alexandru Ipsilanti''; Russian: Александр Ипсиланти; 1792—1828) was a Phanariot Greek military commander and national hero. He bears the same name as, and should not be confused with, his grandfather, Prince of Wallachia and Moldavia at the end of the 18th century.

Contents

Early life

Campaign in Moldavia and Wallachia

Refuge

References

Early life

Born in Istanbul as the eldest son of Constantine Ypsilanti, Alexander accompanied his father in 1805 to Saint Petersburg, the capital of Imperial Russia, and in 1809 received a commission in the cavalry of the Imperial Guard. He fought with distinction in 1812 and 1813 (during the Napoleonic Wars), losing an arm at the battle of Dresden, and in 1814 was promoted colonel and appointed one of the emperor's adjutants. In this capacity he attended Alexander I at the Congress of Vienna, where he was a popular figure in society (see Auguste Louis Charles La Garde-Chambonas, ''Souvenirs''). In 1817 he became major-general and commander of the brigade of hussars. In 1820, on the refusal of Count Capo d'Istria to accept the post of president of the Greek Filiki Eteria, Ypsilantis was elected, and in 1821 he placed himself at the head of the insurrection against the Ottoman Empire in the Danubian Principalities. Accompanied by several other Greek officers in the Russian service he crossed the Prut on March 6, announcing that he had "''the support of a great power''".

Campaign in Moldavia and Wallachia

Instead of advancing on Brăila, where he arguably could have prevented Ottoman armies entering the Principalities, and might have forced Russia to accept a ''fait accompli'', he remained in Iaşi, where he ordered the executions of several pro-Ottoman Moldavians. In Bucharest, where he had arrived after some weeks delay, it became plain that he could not rely on the Wallachian Pandurs to continue their Oltenian-based revolt as assistance to the Greek cause; Ypsilantis was met with mistrust by the Pandur leader Tudor Vladimirescu, who, as a nominal ally to the Eteria, had started the rebellion as a move to prevent Scarlat Callimachi from reaching the throne in Bucharest, while trying to maintain relations with both Russia and the Ottomans.
Then, unexpectedly, came a letter from Capo d'Istria upbraiding Ypsilantis for misusing the mandate received from the Russian emperor, announcing that his name had been struck off the army list, and commanding him to lay down his arms. Ypsilanti's decision to explain away the emperor's letter could only have been justified by the success of a cause which was rendered hopeless. When Vladimirescu took this to mean that his commitment to the Eteria was over, a conflict erupted inside his camp, and he was tried and killed by the pro-Greeks and the Eteria. There followed an Ottoman intervention on Wallachian soil and a series of major Eteria defeats, culminating in that of Drăgăşani on June 19.

Refuge

Alexander, accompanied by his brother Nicholas and a remnant of his followers, retreated to Râmnic, where he spent some days in negotiating with the Austrian authorities for permission to cross the frontier. Fearing that his followers might surrender him to the Turks, he gave out that Austria had declared war on Turkey, caused a ''Te Deum'' to be sung in the church of Cozia, and, on pretext of arranging measures with the Austrian commander-in-chief, crossed the frontier. But the reactionary policies of the Holy Alliance were enforced by Francis I and Klemens Metternich, and the country refused to give asylum for leaders of revolts in neighboring countries.
Ypsilantis was kept in close confinement for seven years, and when released at the insistence of the emperor Nicholas I of Russia, retired to Vienna, where he died in extreme poverty and misery on January 31, 1828. His last wish that his heart be removed from his body and sent to Greece was fulfilled by Georgios Lassanis, and it is now located the ''Amalieion'' in Athens. His body was originally buried on St. Marx cemetery. His remains were transferred on February 18, 1903 by members of his family in Ypsilanti-Sina estate in Rappoltenkirchen, Austria from where they were transferred to Taxiarhes Church located in ''Pedion tou Areos'' in Athens on August 1964.

References

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