Tselebis Ioannis ‘Ianko’ (Zarifis) Zarifi & Kokona Tarsitsa ‘Tarsi’ (Iordanaki) Kaplanoglou

Family Group Sheet

NameTselebis Ioannis ‘Ianko’ (Zarifis) Zarifi, Grandson

Birth1780, Mega Revma/Arnavutköy, Bosphorus, Turkey

MemoAnother source says ca. 1770

Deathca 1850, Prinkipos, Sea of Marmara

MemoSoon after 1850 according to George L. Zarifi.

BurialChurch of the Panagia, Pera/Stavrodromi, Constantinople, Turkey

MemoChurch of the Virgin. An unscrupulous builder stole the marble from their tombs to use in restoration of the church.

ResidenceMega Revma/Arnavutköy, Bosphorus, Turkey

Residenceabt 1846, Prinkipos, Sea of Marmara, Turkey

MemoRetired to a house on the main Prinkipos island.

ResidencePhanar, Constantinople, Turkey

OccupationTraded in wine in Odessa and Constantinople.

Note 1Tselebis/Tselebi/Tchelebi is the Turkish title of the son (or grandson?) of a Bey and of the great grandson of a Hospodar. In the later Ottoman period Tselebis was generally used as an honorific title. According to George L Zarifi Ianko was an only child

Note 2He built two homes for his family: at Phanar and Megalo Rema (today Arnaoutkoi). In 1821, as a financial supporter of the Philiki Etairia, he fled Constantinople for Odessa, with family and friends in a chartered ship, where Tsar Alexander l welcomed him.

Note 3He owned vineyards on the island of Avlonia (today Pachalimani) along the coast of the Cyzique peninsula in the Sea of Marmara, established himself as a wine merchant first at Arnaoutkeuy (Arnavutkoy) on the Bosphorus and then at Phanar in Constantinople.

Note 4Left Constantinople in the Greek exodus the day after it was clear that his name was known to be on a list of secret financial backers of the Philiki Eteriae. Found a caïque at Galata port bound for Odessa and the family left with what they could carry. A

Note 5GZ says he was educated by a priest, Vasileios Romanzas. He had seven children though a baby was left behind in Galata amid the confusion when they filed for Odessa where they lived happily for eight years.

Note 5During the Greek Revolution and the family’s exile in Odessa (1821-1829) their Constantinople houses were lost and property and land in Turkey confiscated.

Note 5“Through an old friend, Tahir Bey – the Sultan’s Sergeant-at-arms – Ioannis Zarifi managed to be appointed to a position at court with a salary of five gold sovereigns a month.” - GZ

FlagsConstantinople, Turkey, Zarifi

FatherKyr Zarifis (Zaraf) Zarifi (1750-?)

MotherSultana ‘Sultanitsa’ [Zarifi] (?-?)

Marriageabt 1805

SpouseKokona Tarsitsa ‘Tarsi’ (Iordanaki) Kaplanoglou

Birthabt 1780

Death1850, Prinkipos, Sea of Marmara

Memo“In the early 1850s”

Burial1850s, Church of the Panagia, Pera/Stavrodromi, Constantinople, Turkey

MemoChurch of the Virgin. An unscrupulous builder stole the marble from their tombs to use in restoration of the church.

Note 1Kokona (Ottoman title). The youngest daughter and a ‘rich match’. According to Boysie Zarifi's notes (found 1999), Tarsi Kaplanoglou received as a dowry a house at Therapia.

Note 2Her son’s memoirs recount her despair at having to throw overboard a beautiful hare-skin coat when fleeing Constantinople in 1821; the sailors apparently regarded it as an ill omen.

FlagsConstantinople, Kaplanoglou, Turkey

FatherTselebis Iordanis ‘Iordanaki’ KAPLANOGLOU (?-<1825)

Children

1 MGeorge (Ioannis) Zarifi, G Grandson

Birth6 Sep 1807, Mega Revma/Arnavutköy, Bosphorus, Turkey

MemoOther sources say born 1806 or 1810.

Death27 Mar 1884, Pera/Stavrodromi, Constantinople, Turkey

MemoSturdza says 6 Apr 1884 at Constantinople.

BurialSisli Greek Orthodox Cemetery, Constantinople, Turkey

Memo“The funeral cortège headed first to the church of the Virgin Mary, where-Patriarch Joachim was waiting to perform the burial of his friend and patron.-Thereafter the congregation arrived at the cemetery in carriages.” - GZ

SpouseEleni (Dimitrios) Zafiropoulo (1817-1910)

MarriageDec 1839, Tzoubali/Cibali, Phanar, Constantinople, Turkey

Married Memo1839 is the date suggested by George L Zarifi after an engagement in 1836.

ChildrenLeonidas (George) (1840-1923)

Pericles George (George) (1844-1927)

Sophia (George) (1848-1923)

Theresa ‘Tarsi’ (George) (1860-1919)

Stephanos ‘Stefanaki’ 'Etienne' George (George) (1863-1894)