Ioannis Kapodistrias - Background and Early Career

Background and Early Career

Ioannis Kapodistrias was born in Corfu to a distinguished Corfiote family. Kapodistrias' father was nobleman, artist and politician Antonios Maria Kapodistrias (Αντώνιος Μαρία Καποδίστριας). An ancestor of Kapodistrias' had been created a conte (count) by Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy, and the title was later (1679) inscribed in the Libro d'Oro of the Corfu nobility; the title originates from Capodistria (formerly Justinopolis), a city on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Venice, now Koper in Slovenia and the place of origin of Kapodistrias' paternal family before they moved to Corfu in the 13th century where they changed their religion from Catholic to Orthodox and became hellenized. His family's name in Capodistria was Vitori or Vittori. His mother was Adamantine Gonemis (Αδαμαντία (Διαμαντίνα) Γονέμη), a countess, and daughter of the noble Christodoulos Gonemis (Χριστόδουλος Γονέμης). The Gonemis were a Greek family originally from the island of Cyprus, they had migrated to Crete when Cyprus fell to the Ottomans in the 16th century. They then migrated to Epirus when Crete fell in the 17th century, finally settling on the Ionian island of Corfu. The Gonemis family, like the Kapodistrias, had been listed in the Libro d'Oro (Golden Book) of Corfu. Kapodistrias, though born and raised as a nobleman, was throughout his life a liberal thinker and had democratic ideals. His ancestors fought along with the Venetians during the Turkish sieges of Corfu and had received a title of nobility from them.

Kapodistrias studied medicine, philosophy and law at Padua, in Italy. When he was 21 years old, in 1797, he started his medical practice as a doctor in his native island of Corfu. In 1799, when Corfu was briefly occupied by the forces of Russia and Turkey, Kapodistrias was appointed chief medical director of the military hospital. In 1802 he founded an important scientific and social progress organisation in Corfu, the "National Medical Association", of which he was an energetic member.