He was born in 1782 on the
Saronic island of
Hydra to an
Arvanite family. The family, apparently the richest in independent Greece, stemmed from the younger son of an
Albanian peasant. He settled the island as a boatman after the Venetians left the
Peloponnese (1715) but before the island received its permanent colony. The Koundouriotis family used extensively their native
Albanian dialect of Hydra. The dialect has been documented in two letters of Georgios' private correspondence with
Ioannis Orlandos, written in the
Greek alphabet, in accordance with the practice of the writers of Arvanitika during the
Greek War of Independence. Georgios spoke Greek only with difficulty. He was the brother of
Lazaros Kountouriotis, another shipowner of the Greek War of Independence. When the War of Independence broke out, Georgios, along with the rest of the Kountouriotis family, supported the effort with generous donations as well as with their ships. He was often at odds with other Hydriot sea captains but ultimately was the wealthiest. Georgios Kountouriotis became a member of the executive committee of the Greek Revolution and served as its president from 1823 to 1826 during the crucial time of the
siege of Missolonghi. After independence, he became a member of the cabinet of
Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first governor of Greece. He was a semi-independent adherent of the
French Party mostly due to his antipathy to the
Russian Party and his fellow Hydriots of the
English Party. During the period of French Party ascendancy in the reign of King
Otto, he served as prime minister. Kountouriotis died in
Athens in 1858. He was the grandfather of
Pavlos Kountouriotis who fought in the
First Balkan War and later served as the first (1924-1926) President of the
Second Hellenic Republic. ==References==