Ioannis Kapodistrias was one of the greatest Greeks. Perhaps this was also the reason why he ended up in the grave so early, so ingloriously and disastrously for the nation. From the moment he accepted to govern the devastated Greece, he put his whole being at the disposal of the Motherland.
In his work, he came face to face with local and foreign interests, which conspired against him and largely cooperated in his assassination. Kapodistrias, having to fight against a thousand problems, managed in less than three years of his administration to leave behind a particularly rich work, despite any errors. But his work would be overthrown from within, probably with the "help" of the British and French.
In any case, whether the Mavromichalis killed Kapodistrias – a view that is disputed by some – or others, the moral perpetrators of the murder were certainly not only Greeks. Petrobeis Mavromichalis himself, in 1840, hearing someone accuse Kapodistrias, said:"You don't measure well, philosopher... Curse the Anglo-French who were the cause and I lost my own, and the Nation a man who will not encourage he curses, and his blood chastises me until now...
The decision of Ioannis Kapodistrias to proceed with the distribution of the National Lands to the poor fighters, seems to have been another point of friction between the Governor and the Greek dignitaries and the foreign lenders, since the national lands were the only asset of the Greek state and therefore a guarantee for repayment of the onerous loans that had been granted to Greece.
Mani, completely controlled by Petrobeis Mavromichalis had revolted against Kapodistrias and was preparing armed units. Kapodistrias arrested Petrobeus, but the situation was worsened by the revolt of Hydra. Under the leadership of the Kountouriotis family and the political guidance of Alexandros Mavrokordatos, the Hydraians rebelled, asking Kapodistrias to return the money they had spent in the 1821 Campaign, occupied the Poros naval station, led by Andreas Miaoulis , set fire to ships of the fleet, among them the frigate "Hellas".
The encouragement, to put it mildly, of the rebels by the Great Powers, Britain and France, is fully documented. Petrobeis Mavromichalis was openly supported by the French ambassador, while the Kountouriotis family and Alexandros Mavrokordatos were the absolute representatives of British interests in Greece. Both French and British considered Kapodistrias a disturbing instrument of Russian policy in the Mediterranean.
Kapodistrias himself had knowledge of the plans of the specific foreign powers against him. On July 31, 1831, in a letter to the French admiral Lalande, he wrote:"As for me, I also knew all of your intrigues, but I decided that I should not in any way cut the thread of cooperation with you, because I prioritized in the recovery and reconstruction of Greece. If I cut off relations with the so-called protecting Powers, this would be to the detriment of Greece and I did not want to add weight to my conscience in any way. And I let things speak for themselves...".
Two months later he sent a letter to the Greek ambassador in Paris, Alexandros Soutsos, asking him to make relevant representations to the French government, regarding the involvement of the French in the anti-government actions of Hydra and Mani and for their open collaboration and assistance to the anti-government, who were members of the English and French parties.
The assassination of Kapodistrias ultimately appears to have been organized by the French ambassador Rouen and his British counterpart Dawkins, who were carrying out instructions from their respective governments. After all, they had previously tried to kill Kapodistrias, through Mavrokordatus!
Mavrokordatos had then paid 25,000 grosii to Kapodistrias' waiter, Nicoleto, to poison him. Although he initially accepted, he changed his mind and even informed Kapodistrias. When this attempt failed, revolutions broke out in Mani - with the assistance of French troops - and in Hydra.
Petrobei's brother, Konstantinos, and his nephew, George, were placed under police surveillance. The politarchis, as the head of the police was called at the time, instead of changing the two gendarmes accompanying the Mavromichalis every week, as he had been instructed, left them 40 days. So they finally became accomplices. A few days before the murder of Kapodistrias, the Mavromichalides, together with their accompanying gendarmes, bought new weapons from the Paximadis gun shop in Nafplio.
The murder
On Friday, September 25, an elderly woman reported to the police that she heard Konstantinos and Georgios Mavromichalis chatting with their two gendarme guards that they should kill Kapodistrias on Saturday, September 26, in front of the church. The report reached the police chief, who did not react.
But on Saturday, Kapodistrias was sick and did not leave the house. So the operation was postponed until the next day. The next morning of September 27, 1831, Ioannis Kapodistrias left his home, in Nafplio, to go to the church of Agios Spyridon. The Mavromichalis and the two gendarmes were waiting there. It is believed that he was attacked by all four but again this is disputed by some scholars who state that the Mavromichalis did not even attack the governor.
The planning of the assassination probably belonged to the French general Gerard , then commander of the regular army, with the involvement of Greek officers, such as Captain Fotios Angelides. Two months before the assassination, the officers of the French expeditionary force in the Peloponnese confirmed in their discussions that the day was approaching when they would "get rid of" Kapodistrias.
Also indicative are the last words of Constantinos Mavromichalis, as conveyed by General Kasomoulis in his memoirs. "It's not my fault, soldiers, others set me up," Mavromichalis shouted before falling dead, having been shot by Kapodistrias' bodyguard and receiving blows from the crowd. The attitude of the French Ambassador Rouen, who after the assassination gave asylum to Georgios Mavromichalis and refused to hand him over to the guard of Nafplion, Portuguese colonel Almeida, is a clear proof. “We killed the tyrant. We believe in the honor of France. Here are our tanks," Georgios Mavromichalis told the French ambassador, according to Kasomoulis.
France, however, through their ambassador and military escort, did not stop defending the accused. The military attache of France went so far as to threaten the Greek military judges who tried Georgios Mavromichalis and his two accomplices not to dare to condemn them.
The British ambassador threatened to sever diplomatic relations with Greece if the mobilizations of the people of Nafplio, who considered Britain jointly responsible for the Governor's death, did not stop. The testimony of the Russian ambassador is also revealing, who wrote in his report on the murder:"...I have no doubt that the murderous hand was armed by someone other than England...".