Consul / diplomat · Lawyer / legislator · Agent
George Menardos
fl. 1866–1886 · Greece
Greek consul and lawyer in Cyprus who acted for Luigi Palma di Cesnola in the 1880s, during the Curium dispute with Ohnefalsch-Richter.
Biography
George Menardos acted in Cyprus for Luigi Palma di Cesnola during the Curium dispute of the 1880s. Marangou says Menardos was consul of Greece in Cyprus from June 1866 to 1874, a lawyer on friendly terms with Cesnola5. In 1868 he acted as lawyer in the "Tricomo farm" case, which involved the American, French and Greek consulates5. In 1869, when Greece and Turkey broke off relations, he took refuge at the American consulate3,5.
The Curium episode runs from 1882 to 1886. His letters to Cesnola of 1882 to 1885 are in the hands of the Cypriot collector Andreas Menelaou, and Marangou reproduces parts of them5. She argues that Cesnola, expecting trouble once his foreman Theocharis Koutsocheris spoke, sent Menardos to obtain a written testimony from him, and that Menardos pursued it from 1882 through a lawyer in Larnaca. She infers that the letter "supposedly signed" by Koutsocheris was written by N. P. Tsikinis. According to a letter of 24 January 1883 from Tsikinis to Menardos, Koutsocheris asked for money and received it from Cesnola through Menardos5.
After Max Ohnefalsch-Richter published his article in the Cyprus Herald of 6 October 1883, Cesnola told Menardos to find the best English lawyer in Cyprus for a libel suit; Collyre took the case. During 1884, Marangou writes, Menardos and Collyre took statements from Cesnola's former workmen, Theocharis, Lazaris and Mustafa, and the letters record the sums paid: Menardos asked leave to pay Theocharis more than £2 and Lazaris £2 to £3, with 3 or 4 shillings for others at Paphos and Limassol. Marangou reads this as Cesnola directing events from New York through men who had worked for him, some of whom, she says, he "easily bought"5.
By 1885 he was practising in Limassol. Hans-Günter Buchholz quotes Cesnola's unpublished letters "to his lawyer Menardos in Limassol" of 4 September 1885, 11 January 1886 and 1 June 1886, on what two diggers and Vondiziano had sworn for Richter and on links between the French consul, Richter and Colonel Falkland Warren1,2. Nothing further is recorded of him after 1886.
Life and work
- 1868Acted as lawyer in the 'Tricomo farm' dispute between the Mattei, Gajetti and Murat families, in which Cesnola's American consulate and the French consulate were also involved
LarnacaMarangou 2000, p. 172
- 1869During the Greek-Turkish rupture, sought sanctuary at the American consulate and worked with Cesnola to protect the Greek community; Marangou thinks he briefed the Greek government on Cesnola's help
- December 1882Wrote (13 Dec 1882) to the Larnaca lawyer N. P. Tsikinis, 'asking for a written testimony' from Cesnola's former foreman Theocharis Koutsocheris about the Curium excavations. Marangou: Cesnola, 'suspecting what would occur once his good foreman, Theocharis Koutsocheris, testified and spilled the beans, sought out Theocharis through Menardos'; Menardos 'pursued Koutsocheris, from 1882, through another lawyer in Larnaca'.
- 1883Marangou: the correspondence between Cesnola and Menardos 'throughout 1883' was mainly about Koutsocheris's testimony; he 'naturally demanded money from the General; this money ... was of course given to Koutsocheris by the General, through Menardos'. As 'proof of the payment' she prints a letter of 24 Jan 1883 from Tsikinis to Menardos. The resulting statement 'supposedly signed' by Koutsocheris was, she says, 'of course written by' Tsikinis (her inference). The printed part of Tsikinis's letter asks that 'the above' be passed to the General, 'who in his generosity might consider helping his old servant and aid'.
- October 1883 – 1884After Cesnola read Richter's article in the Cyprus Herald of 6 Oct 1883 he ordered Menardos to find the best English lawyer in Cyprus for a libel action against Richter; Collyre took the case. Marangou notes that it was thought pointless to sue Richter
- 1884Marangou: 'During 1884 both Menardos and the British lawyer Collyre were busy taking the testimonies of the workmen of Cesnola - Theocharis, Lazaris and Mustafa'; 'through the letters we know of the sum of money that each was given for testimony on behalf of the General'. Menardos sought leave to give Theocharis, 'whose testimony was the most important one', more than 2 pounds and Lazaris, 'who also had an important testimony', 2-3 pounds; testimonies were also taken in Paphos and Limassol, 3 or 4 shillings to each who accepted (letter of 25 Jan 1885, n. 12).
- 15 March 1884Letter of Menardos to Cesnola (note 11) in the passage saying Cesnola learned from friends that Ohnefalsch-Richter and Feuardent were corresponding and that from New York he was writing to Theocharis Koutsocheris, Vondiziano and Demetrios Pierides; Menardos was convinced that the Cyprus Herald article against Cesnola was written by Richter and a British government employee.
- 4 September 1885Cesnola wrote from New York to his 'Rechtsanwalt Menardos in Limassol' asking him to find out who Dr Duemmler was and to make sure he was not deceived by Richter (unpublished letter, private collection)
LimassolBuchholz 1989
- 25 May 1885Menardos congratulated the General on his victory in the Feuardent case (letter of 25 May 1885, as Marangou reports it).
- 11 January 1886Cesnola asked his lawyer in Limassol to find out what Vondiziano and two diggers had sworn to for Richter and Duemmler
LimassolBuchholz 1989
- 1 June 1886Cesnola asked him about relations between the French consul, Richter and Col. Warren
LimassolBuchholz 2001, p. 210
Connections
8 peopleSales, gifts & bequests
- Agent for Luigi Palma di Cesnola1876–1886
- Represented by N. P. Tsikinis1882–1883
Disputes & the law
- Subject of testimony by Mustafa1884
Scholarship
- Corresponded with Luigi Palma di Cesnola1869–1886
Colleagues & contacts
- Worked with Luigi Palma di Cesnola1869
- Worked with N. P. Tsikinis1882–1883
- Connected with Theocharis Koutsocheris1882–1884
- Connected with Max Ohnefalsch-Richter1883–1886
- Worked with William Collyer1883–1885
- Connected with Lazaris1884
- Connected with Andreas Menelaou
Sources
- 1.H.-G. Buchholz (1989). “Max Ohnefalsch-Richter als Archäologe auf Zypern”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 11-12, 3-27.
- 2.Hans-Guenter Buchholz (2001). “Falkland Warren”. Cyprus in the 19th Century AD: Fact, Fancy and Fiction, 207-215. Oxford, Oxbow.
- 3.L. P. di Cesnola (1878). Cyprus: Its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples.
- 4.Robert Stuart Merrillees (2005). “Towards a fuller history of the Cyprus Museum”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 35, 191-214. Online
- 5.A. G. Marangou (ed.) (2000). The Consul Luigi Palma di Cesnola 1832-1904: Life and Deeds.
- 6.O. Masson (1984). “Cesnola et le trésor de Curium (I)”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 1.