19. Intangible Benefaction – The Intellectual Legacies

The Neo-Hellenic Enlightenment flourished within the Central European Greek communities, shaped by the influence of Romanticism and the rise of the bourgeois class. Greek merchants abroad were pivotal in spreading modern ideas and fostering a sense of national consciousness.

Integral to this ideological evolution were the intellectual legacies of scholars and scientists from the Vlach-speaking Hellenism. These contributions epitomize another dimension of benefaction—intangible benefaction. Raised in cosmopolitan environments and educated at the universities of their adopted countries, these individuals leveraged trade as a channel to transfer knowledge, experience, and an optimistic vision of life and society to their national center and places of origin.

Although their contributions cannot be quantified materially, their impact was profound, fueling the intellectual awakening and social advancement of their compatriots.

Their primary vehicle of influence was the book—encompassing literary works, language aids, dictionaries, commercial manuals, hymnals, pilgrimage guides, medical-philosophical essays, and more. The learned Greek Vlachs of the diaspora taught in community schools, established and donated libraries, compiled anthologies, translated foreign texts, authored original studies (often bilingual), and personally funded or supported the publication and distribution of books.

Books became valuable commodities, traveling great distances through printing presses and trade caravans. They educated, entertained, and expanded horizons. For Hellenism, the Greek-language book production of the 18th and 19th centuries, infused with the legacy of ancient heritage, also served as a powerful vehicle for national ideology.

Dim. Postolakas and Ach. Postolakas (1821 – 1897)

Hailing from Metsovo, merchants and scholars devoted themselves to classical studies and archaeology, with a particular focus on ancient Greek and Roman coinage. Dimitrios Postolakas was an active member of the Greek intellectual diaspora and a close associate of the Larissa-born Enlightenment figure Konstantinos Koumas.

Achilleas, who served as the director of the Numismatic Museum of Athens from 1856 to 1888, played a pivotal role in establishing numismatics as a field of study in Greece. He cultivated strong connections with the German Archaeological Institute in Athens, to which he generously bequeathed his rich library, photographs, and coin casts from his personal archive.

Dim. Darvaris (1757 – 1823)

A distinguished figure of the Neo-Hellenic Enlightenment and modern Greek education, he was a pedagogue and scholar with a broad university education and an impressive body of written work. Born into a prosperous family from Kleisoura, Kastoria, active in Central European commerce, he carried forward a legacy of intellectual and cultural contributions.

In 1801, he became the first teacher of the Greek School of Vienna, a pivotal institution of the Greek diaspora. Through his will, he generously bequeathed thousands of volumes of schoolbooks to Greek schools across the Habsburg Monarchy, Greece, and his hometown of Kleisoura, leaving a lasting impact on education and learning.