Konstantinos Koumas (; Larissa, 26 September 1777 – Trieste, 13 May 1836) was a Greek 'Teacher of the Nation', a pioneer of the Modern Greek Enlightenment, a historian, philosopher and translator of literary works.
Biography
Childhood and studies
He was born in Larissa in 1777. His father was Michael Koumas, a fury merchant.
From the fear of not being taken by the Janissaries, he spent his childhood hidden at home, without ever attending school or church. In 1787, because of the plague epidemic that broke out in Larissa, the family of Koumas left in Tyrnavos. There, little Konstantinos learned how to read the synaxaries at church and the Salvation of Sinners by Landos (Αμαρτωλών Σωτηρία του Λάνδου). Because he developed an enthusiasm for knowledge, his parents delivered him at fifteen at the school of Tyrnavos, where he had Ioannis Pezaros (Ιωάννης Πέζαρος) as his teacher. He was educated by him for six years and he got the reputation of a prominent student. He was taught of Ancient Greek classical writers and basic principles of philosophy jointly with mathematics, geometry and physics, in which he showed special inclination. Metropolitan of Larissa, Dionysis Kaliarchis took him with him to Constantinople and introduced him to the Grand Dragoman of the Sublime Porte, Constantine Ypsilantis. When Constantine was declared Prince of Wallachia, he suggested hiring him at his services, but Koumas refused and returned back to his homeland, where he became a teacher.
Teacher at Tsaritsani and Ampelakia
Because of the constant terrorism of the Turkish, he fled to Tsaritsani where he taught and preached from a pulpit. He taught Greek and scientific studies in simple Greek language by the standards of the democrats and he introduced algebra as a new lesson. In October of 1798, he married the daughter of his teacher, Ioannis Pezaros.
He then went to Ampelakia, where Gregory Konstantas and the doctor Spyridon Asanis from Kefallonia used to teach. In 1799, Koumas had a daughter but he lost his wife. Deeply saddened, he fled to the Vineyards, where he occupied with Asanis in translating the work of a French astronomer and mathematician Abbe de la Caille, about conical prefectures.
In Vienna
At the end of 1803, Anthimos Gazis took him with him when he visited at summer, his birthplace. And Koumas wanted passionately to meet “the Enlightened Europe”. At the capital of Austria-Hungary, where he was the chaplain of a prosperous Greek community, he was included in his staff for the publication of his Greek dictionary. Also, Koumas was appointed as a private teacher to the wealthy merchant Stephanos Moschos (Στέφανος Μόσχος), while at the same time, he applied to the University, mainly attending math-related courses. With the still intense echo of the French Revolution, Vienna at the time was full of liberty and new ideas, it was a center of a spiritual and artistic movement, already having a university since 1365, while books, newspapers and magazines were being distributed in several languages. He himself is learning German. 1807 was a rough year for Koumas, finding him in a formidable financial situation, after his father’s death.
In Smyrna
In 1808 he received an invitation from the Greeks of Smyrna to take over the management of the newly established Philological Gymnasium of Smyrna. At the urging of Adamantios Korais, who appreciated him for his abilities, he accepted and went there. In this position, he taught mathematics, philosophy, experimental physics, geography and ethics, while he organized physical and chemical experiments by equipping the school with the corresponding instruments. With his teaching he introduced rationalism and experimentation, displacing the ecclesiastical tradition of teaching based on memorization and obedience. He gained a great reputation as a worthy organizer of schools, and the Patriarch Cyril VII invited him to Constantinople to run the Great School of the Nation. In 1814 he accepted the post of director of the Kourotsesmeio school in Xirokrini (north of Constantinople), where he remained for only one year and returned to Smyrna, where in 1815 his daughter was getting married.