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Digenis Akritas! From the 5th Grade Reading Book, 1964! The illustration is by Alexandros Alexandrakis!

Αrrival from Marseille- Coutalianos in Constantinople through the Turkish press ( In the realm of censorship )

“No one is more unjust in his judgment of others than he who has a high opinion of himself.”

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, British Baptist preacher

“My father is responsible for a lot of unhappiness in my life, but I also owe him a lot of good things. One of the things he taught me is that there is only one aristocracy, the aristocracy of the spirit.”

Eirini Papa (actress)

A short comment

In this post we will cite a series of publications related to the first landing of Coutalianos in Istanbul in 1883. We discovered these publications by searching the official website of the National Library of France “BnF Gallica”, because free access to the Archive of the Newspapers of the Republic of Turkey is prohibited. At that time, various foreign-language newspapers were circulating in Istanbul, which were also sent abroad through international news agencies. Fortunately the French state archived all these forms and that is why we were able to discover and study them. 

April 7, 1883. In the articles of the French-language Stamboul newspaper that follow, we quote the description of the wrestling matches that Coutalianos gave when he was in Constantinople. As one can easily understand, this particular newspaper was under the censorship regime of the Sultan.
The logo of newspaper “Ethniko Megaleion” (National Grandeur). May. 9 , 1884.
In the above article was published in the city of Volos, statistics related to the Greek population of Constantinople are mentioned. When Koutalian arrived in Constantinople, the Greeks there numbered 300,000. 88 Greek schools and libraries also operated. In the years that followed, the Greek population in Constantinople was expelled by the Turkish state and disappeared in violation of the Treaty of Lausanne.
May 1, 1883
April 5, 1883
Constantinople: The entrance to the “Salle des Petits-Champs” theatre. In this theater Coutalianos performed performances during this period.
March 5, 1883
Panagis and Simon
April 19, 1883
The depicted rank-and-file is none other than the famous doctor Spyridon Mavrogenis, who was the Sultan’s personal physician. This particular doctor belonged to the Greek-speaking community of Constantinople and was one of those who welcomed Coutalianos at Yildiz Palace.
Νewspaper “Phillipoupolis”. Oct. 29, 1892. The above publication states that Mavrogenis Pasha was arrested, on the charge that he was writing the Sultan’s biography without first informing him. From this fact one can understand the extent of the censorship that prevailed in the Ottoman regime.
Νewspaper “Phillipoupolis”. Nov. 5, 1892. After interrogations by the Ottoman authorities, it turns out that Mavrogenis Pasha did not write anything that offended the Sultan, so he was released.
Halil, who according to the Turkish newspaper defeated Coutalianos, was captured in America participating in fixed matches. Unreliability in all its glory.
March 20, 1883
The newspaper “Le Rappel” that follows was a French newspaper and not a Turkish French-speaking one like “Stamboul”. In the column entitled “Letters from Turkey” reference is made to Coutalianos’ fight with the Armenian wrestler Simon.
Le Sémaphore de Marseille, Jan 23, 1883.
Mr. Antoine Panay, the famous Greek hercule, who is travelling through Marseille, will give two wrestling sessions on Thursday evening at 8 p.m. at the Palais de Cristal. Mr. Panay is accompanied by his young son Antoine, a phenomenon of suppleness and agility.
( PS.  These two articles were sent to us by the French researcher Christian Gaildraud. The lawyer Sofia Mitsopoulos helped us with the translation from French. Many thanks to both of you.
Le petit Marseillais, Jan 25, 1883.
Mr. Antoine Panay, the famous Greek hercule, who is travelling through Marseille, will give, the day after tomorrow evening, an exceptional performance at the Palais de Cristal, which cannot be missed by the many wrestling and gymnastic exercises fans. Mr. Panay, gifted with Herculean strength, is both incredibly dexterous and agile. He will perform for the establishment’s regulars a host of unknown tricks to date. Mr. Panay is accompanied by his young son, whose reputation is as firmly established as that of his father.
May 5, 1883
Coutalianos arrived in Constantinople, coming from Marseilles. As can be seen in the following photos, in France at that time the sports of wrestling and weightlifting were very popular.
A postcard presenting the wrestlers of Marseille’s troup around 1905/1906.
Almost all the guys on the photos are well-known french wrestlers of the era. (source: Wrestling Historian Salon/Christian Gaildraud )
Scene with outdoor wrestlers and weightlifters in France. (Source: Nice, Musée national du sport/gallica.bnf.fr Christian Gaildraud Phil Lions)
Early 1900s. The hulking athlete standing in the middle of the front row is the famous French wrestler Raoul the Butcher. Photo taken in the Paris suburb of Neuilly sur Seine (source: Wrestling Historian Salon/ Christian Gaildraud )
The music of Greek composer Basil Poledouris will accompany Coutalianos’ “invasion” in Constantinople.
Indicative map of Coutalianos movements during the period 1883
Also 1883
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