Konstantinos Photiadis


Konstantinos Photiadis was the Ottoman-appointed Prince of Samos from 1874 to 1879.
Johann Strauss, author of "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire: Translations of the Kanun-ı Esasi and Other Official Texts into Minority Languages," stated that he held the highest positions a Christian could in the empire and described him as one of several "Eminent figures of the Greek community", in which he participated. He held a teaching position at the "Great National School", with the literature in the Turkish language being his subject of instruction.
He served as a counsellor in the local council of the island of Crete, and from 29 May 1873 to 26 May 1874, the Principal of Galatasaray High School, prior to being appointed Prince of Samos. He also constructed the Princely Palace and the harbour in Vathi. He started the construction of Karlovaso harbour and he completed the saltpit there. He also founded Samos hospital, the Seminary in Malagari and boarding schools in Vathi and Karlovaso. He also was the primary editor of the Greek language newspaper Anatolikos Astēr.
He knew Ottoman Turkish well, and he co-wrote a Greek-Turkish dictionary that was released in 1860, the first of its kind in the Ottoman Empire. He also was one of two translators of the Mecelle to its Greek version, Nomikoi kanones ētoi Astykos Kōdēx, the other being Ioannis Vithynos.
He also cofounded the Greek Literary Society.