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Trabzon


The consuls    EN

Author: ÖZDIS HAMDI

Trabzon, one of the most important port-cities in the Ottoman Empire and battleground of the “great powers” in the 19th century, was at a significant location because of the link between the Black Sea and Iran. It is possible to understand this importance by looking at the consulates in the table below. We can see from the list that from early on (1789-1830) Trabzon attracted the interest of the French and the English. We know that the first foreign “representation” that opened in 1798 belonged to the French (“commissioner”), who attached particular importance to Turkey and the Levant.  [1] Of course, this interest was not limited only to the French and the English; other states such as Belgium, the Netherlands, Russia, Italy, Germany and America opened consulates in Trabzon. [2]

Of course, there is no need to point out that all these foreign consulates in Trabzon were founded for financial, political and commercial interests and for activities in these fields. It is not a coincidence that the vice-consuls of the first French and English consulates dealt with commerce themselves. The first English vice-consul that came to Trabzon makes this clear already from his first reports and notes that England should set base here for its interests: “... the Foreign Office sent out to Trebizond from London a certain Mr. James Brant as first British Vice Consul with the object, as Brant himself wrote, of “the making of Trebizond a depot for the Persian trade”. [3] These individual commercial activities of the first consuls turned, with a more systematic manner, into state politics and thus, the consuls observed the regions they found themselves in as if they were their own countries and penned reports with almost every detail about the social, cultural and financial situation. The following table has been composed in a sufficient degree by the sources at hand. As it can be seen, in order to make a table of the consulates for the other states, apart from England, that is for the whole of the 19th century Ottoman Empire, work has to be done in the archives of these other nations. It is a matter of a study dedicated exclusively to this subject.

Name of consul

Country represented

Origin

Inclusive date of public service

James Brant [4]

Hy Suter [5] Vice cons.

A. Stevens [6] Vice cons.

F.J.Stevens [7](vice consul)

F.J.Stevens

F.J.Stevens

Plagrave [8]

Boulbon

Malmozi

Alfred Biliotti

“ “

“ “

“ “

H.Z.Longworth

Britannia

British

1830

1836

1838

1840

1844

1850

1857

1857

1869-71

1872

1873

1874-75-76-77-78-1881-1885

1886-1912

Martiret

Condetik

Zovbednik

Aleksandiro

Isvaykır-(Zweiker)

Yakovitofski

Le Şövalye Digari

Zağoreski

Empty-no consul

Holtschinger

Die Meske

Esiridyun Zortan (Officer)

Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary

Austria

Austria

Austria

Austria

Austria

Austria

Austria-Nederlands [*]

Austria-Nederlands

Austria-Nederlands

Austria-Nederlands

 

1869-70

1871

1872

1873

1874

1875-77-78

1881, 1888, 1892,

1894-96

1898 (boş)

1900-1901

1903

1904

???

Pierre J.Dupré (ViceCons.)

Pierre Dubouchet Saint-Andre [9]

Beucher

Lafon [10]

Victor Fontanier [11]

Bonşar [12] (Beucher?)

Mösyö Bendili

Fontaniye (Fontanier)

Derşe

Ojet Kastati

Kode

Kun

İmadi Kuri

Gaslin

Lanl

Silver

Şaye

Colomb

Henry De Cortans (Officer)

French

French [13]

 

1798 [14]

1803-1820

1825

1825-1827

1830

1830-32

1856

1857

1869-71

1872

1873-74

1875

1876-77-78-81

1892

1894

1896

1900-1901

1904

Budmer

Loubro

Ferdmelt

Holtschinger

Germany

 

1869-71

1873-74

1875-76

1900

Maşnin

Nimokif

Dimofief

Vikinor Maksimov

Nalatof

Sorokin

Çelkonof

Nikola (Es)Çelkonof

Sezeyof

Russia

 

1869-70-71

1872

1873-1874-76-77

1881

1888

1892-94

1896

1898-1900-1901-1903

1904


Dogresti

İgralmez

Malmozi

Lambertini (vice consul)

Riva

Devrado Françishi

Lodod Yikocoya

Salonelli

Bona

(Empty-no consul)

Maçinta

İtalia

İtalia

 

1869-70

1872

1873-74

1875

1876-77-78

1881

1888

1892-94

1898

1900

1901,1903

Karavlis

Kalpmikopulos

Fivovsi

Bitzi

Napolyon Petro

Filimon

Ozaniyadi

(Empty-no consul)

(Empty-no consul)

Vitalis

Greek

Greek

Greek

Greek

Greek

 

1874

1875

1876

1878

1881

1888, 1892

1894

1896 (Boş)

1898

1900-1901,1903

Ropoli

Kun

Atilyo Sasi

Belgium

 

1869-71-1872,

1874-76-77

1888-1900-1901-1903

Mirza Ali Ekber Han

Mirza Hasan Han

Mirza Mahmut Han

Mirza Hüseyin Han

Karperdazı Mehmet Razi Han

Mehmet Taki Han

Rıza Han

Alevzade Esedullah

Mirza Rıza Han

Zülfikar Bey

Abdülmehemed Han

Persia

 

1869-71-1875

1876

1877-78

1881

1888

1892

1894

1898-1900

1901

1903

1904

Jan Patis Miranko

Holger

H.Z. Longworth

İstefanopulos (Officer)

America

America

America

British

1888

1892

1894,96,1898,1901-1903

Todor Espatar

Kun (Vice C.)

İspadaro

Vanko (Vice consul)

Jan Patis Miranko/Maranko (Vice consul)

Atilyo Sasi

Empty-no consul

Holtschinger

Netherlands

Spain

Netherlands

Spain

Spain and Netherlands

Netherlands

Spain

Netherlands

(Felemenk)Netherlands

 

1870-71-72

1873

1874-75-76-77-78-81

1872

1874-76

1877 (maranko)-1881,1888

1878-1892-94-96

1896

1898

1898-1900

1900-1901

1903

 [*] These consulates are incorparated but there were no consuls that year.

 


[1] FO 195/2474, “Trabzond And The Persian Transit Trade”, 1942. No name.

[2] It would be necessary to have a research and study dedicated particularly to the history and activities of the foreign consulates that opened in Trabzon, therefore here we limit our information to the ones active specifically in the second half of the nineteenth century.

[3] FO 195/2474, “Trabzond And The...”

[4] For James Brant’s first report see, FO 524/1, 18 August 1830.

[5]FO 524/3.

[6]FO 524/5

[7] See FO 195/225.

[8] For works on Palgrave see İsmail H. Demircioğlu, “William G. Palgrave’in Trabzon Hatıraları”, Tarih ve Toplum No. 236, August 2003, s. 44-47; İsmail H. Demircioğlu, “İngiliz Konsolosu Palgrave’e Göre Trabzon Konsoloslukları”, Trabzon ve Çevresi Uluslararası Tarih-Dil ve Edebiyat Sempozyumu, 3-5 Mayıs 2001, Trabzon: Trabzon Valiliği Yayınları,s. 487-491; Mea Allan, Palgrave of Arabia, The Life of William Gifford Palgrave, Macmillan, Edinburgh, 1972.

[9] Özgür Yılmaz, “Victor Fontanier’s Consulate at Trabzon (1830-1832)” OTAM 35, Bahar 2014, p.158.

[10]BOA, C..HR.. 105/5203, A document dated in 1830 records the dismissal of French consul in Trabzon Lafon and his replacement with Fontaye.

[11] Özgür Yılmaz, “Victor Fontanier’s Consulate at Trabzon (1830-1832)” OTAM 35, Spring 2014, p.153-195.

[12] For French Consul in Trabzon Monsieur Bonşar’s stationing elsewhere and the issue of an appointment document for his replacement Monsieur Bendili see Prime-Minister Ottoman Archive, (BOA), A.}DVN. 123/56.

[13] Pierre Jeromé Dupré, who was appointed acting consul in Trabzon, was a timber merchant and France’s responsible for the trade in Mora. See, Faruk Bilici, “XIX. Yüzyılın Başında Trabzon’daki Fransız Konsolosluğu: Paris’in Asya Kapısı”, Karadeniz İncelemeleri Dergisi, 3, (2007), s. 36, 42.

[14] FO 195/2474, “Trabzond And The... ”

 


References

Archival Sources

The National Archives, Foreign Office (FO)

FO 524/24; 195/2347; FO 524-25; FO 369/513; FO 195/812; FO 195/2474.

FO 881/1592.Wgifford Palgrave, Report on the Provines of Trebizond, Sivas, Kastemouni, and part of Angora, by Mr. Consul Wgifford Palgrave, January, 1868.

Prime-Ministerial Archive-Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi (BOA)

A.}DVN. C..HR..

Allan, Mea. Palgrave of Arabia, The Life of William Gifford Palgrave, Macmillan, Edinburgh, 1972.

Bilici, Faruk. “XIX. Yüzyılın Başında Trabzon’daki Fransız Konsolosluğu: Paris’in Asya Kapısı [The French Consulate in Trabzon at the beginning of the 19th century: Paris’s Door to Asia]”, Karadeniz İncelemeleri Dergisi,

Demircioğlu, İsmail H. “William G. Palgrave’in Trabzon Hatıraları [William G. Palgrave’s Memories of Trabzon]”, Tarih ve Toplum No. 236, August 2003.

---------------------. “İngiliz Konsolosu Palgrave’e Göre Trabzon Konsoloslukları [Trabzon Consulates according to English Consul Palgrave]”, Trabzon ve Çevresi Uluslararası Tarih-Dil ve Edebiyat Sempozyumu, 3-5 Mayıs 2001, Trabzon: Trabzon Valiliği Yayınları.

Emiroğlu, Kudret. (ed) Trabzon Vilayeti Salnamesi 1869 [1869 Yearbook of the Province of Trabzon], Cilt 1, Trabzon İli ve İlçeleri Eğitim Kültür ve Sosyal Yardımlaşma Vakfı, Mayıs, 1993, Ankara, pp.32.

-----------------------.(haz.) Trabzon Vilayeti Salnamesi 1870, Cilt 2, Trabzon İli ve İlçeleri Eğitim Kültür ve Sosyal Yardımlaşma Vakfı, Mayıs, 1993, Ankara, pp.61.

----------------------.(haz.) Trabzon Vilayeti Salnamesi 1871, Cilt 3, Trabzon İli ve İlçeleri Eğitim Kültür ve Sosyal Yardımlaşma Vakfı, Mayıs, 1993, Ankara,

---------------------. (haz.)Trabzon Vilayeti Salnamesi 1872, Cilt 4, Trabzon İli ve İlçeleri Eğitim Kültür ve Sosyal Yardımlaşma Vakfı, Mayıs, 1994, Ankara.

---------------------. (haz.)Trabzon Vilayeti Salnamesi 1873, Cilt 5, Trabzon İli ve İlçeleri Eğitim Kültür ve Sosyal Yardımlaşma Vakfı, Mayıs, 1995, Ankara,pp.61.

---------------------. (haz.)Trabzon Vilayeti Salnamesi 1874, Cilt 6, Trabzon İli ve İlçeleri Eğitim Kültür ve Sosyal Yardımlaşma Vakfı, Mayıs, 1995, Ankara, pp.62.

---------------------. (haz.)Trabzon Vilayeti Salnamesi 1875, Cilt 7, Trabzon İli ve İlçeleri Eğitim Kültür ve Sosyal Yardımlaşma Vakfı, Mayıs, 1995, Ankara, pp.78.

---------------------. (haz.)Trabzon Vilayeti Salnamesi 1876, Cilt 8, Trabzon İli ve İlçeleri Eğitim Kültür ve Sosyal Yardımlaşma Vakfı, Mayıs, 1995, Ankara, pp.79.

---------------------. (haz.)Trabzon Vilayeti Salnamesi 1877, Cilt 9, Trabzon İli ve İlçeleri Eğitim Kültür ve Sosyal Yardımlaşma Vakfı, Mayıs, 1995, Ankara, pp.73

---------------------. (haz.)Trabzon Vilayeti Salnamesi 1878, Cilt 10, Trabzon İli ve İlçeleri Eğitim Kültür ve Sosyal Yardımlaşma Vakfı, Mayıs, 1999, Ankara, pp.81.

---------------------. (haz.)Trabzon Vilayeti Salnamesi 1879, Cilt 11, Trabzon İli ve İlçeleri Eğitim Kültür ve Sosyal Yardımlaşma Vakfı, Mayıs, 1999, Ankara, pp.81.

---------------------. (haz.)Trabzon Vilayeti Salnamesi 1881, Cilt 12, Trabzon İli ve İlçeleri Eğitim Kültür ve Sosyal Yardımlaşma Vakfı, Mayıs, 1999, Ankara, pp.128.

---------------------. (haz.)Trabzon Vilayeti Salnamesi 1888, Cilt 13, Trabzon İli ve İlçeleri Eğitim Kültür ve Sosyal Yardımlaşma Vakfı, Mayıs, 2002, Ankara, pp.337.

--------------------. (haz.)Trabzon Vilayeti Salnamesi 1892, Cilt 14, Trabzon İli ve İlçeleri Eğitim Kültür ve Sosyal Yardımlaşma Vakfı, Mayıs, 2005, Ankara. pp. 291-295.

---------------------. (haz.)Trabzon Vilayeti Salnamesi 1894, Cilt 15, Trabzon İli ve İlçeleri Eğitim Kültür ve Sosyal Yardımlaşma Vakfı, Mayıs, 2007, Ankara.

---------------------. (haz.)Trabzon Vilayeti Salnamesi 1896, Cilt 16, Trabzon İli ve İlçeleri Eğitim Kültür ve Sosyal Yardımlaşma Vakfı, Mayıs, 2007, Ankara. pp.303.

---------------------. (haz.)Trabzon Vilayeti Salnamesi 1898, Cilt 17, Trabzon İli ve İlçeleri Eğitim Kültür ve Sosyal Yardımlaşma Vakfı, Mayıs, 2007, Ankara. pp.281.

---------------------. (haz.)Trabzon Vilayeti Salnamesi 1900, Cilt 18, Trabzon İli ve İlçeleri Eğitim Kültür ve Sosyal Yardımlaşma Vakfı, Mayıs, 2008, Ankara. pp.166.

---------------------. (haz.)Trabzon Vilayeti Salnamesi 1903, Cilt 21, Trabzon İli ve İlçeleri Eğitim Kültür ve Sosyal Yardımlaşma Vakfı, Mayıs, 2008, Ankara. pp.348.

---------------------. (haz.)Trabzon Vilayeti Salnamesi 1904, Cilt 22, Trabzon İli ve İlçeleri Eğitim Kültür ve Sosyal Yardımlaşma Vakfı, Mayıs, 2009, Ankara. pp.341.

Kocabaşoğlu,Uygur. Majestelerinin Konsolosları, İngiliz Belgeleriyle Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’ndaki İngiliz Konsoloslukları, İstanbul: İletişim Yay. 2004.

Yılmaz, Özgür “Victor Fontanier’s Consulate at Trabzon (1830-1832)” OTAM 35, Bahar 2014, p.153-195.


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